Letter to Parents of Returning Students

Dear Parent,

I know that you are excited about welcoming your student home from study abroad. I hope that this letter may provide some helpful information to you and your student during the first few weeks back home.

Your student will probably experience some contradictory feelings – happiness to be home and some regret for the friends left behind. Most study abroad students do pass through this stage of not knowing whether they want to be here or there; this is all part of 'reverse cultural shock' and is nothing to be concerned about.

Parents often find returning students critical of home country ways – study abroad students often tell us that we are too materialistic, our knowledge of the rest of the world is superficial, etc. etc.! Your student may also find it difficult to describe the time abroad, and all he/she has learned. Please be assured that these kinds of feelings are very normal among our study abroad students – nearly all of them end up in my office complaining of 'itchy feet' and wanting to fly off to the ends of the world again! They do settle down and continue their studies, sharing the knowledge they have gained with the rest of the campus, and being a wonderful resource for all of us involved in international programs. In order to better understand the feelings your student may have upon returning home I have included a short reading, "Top Ten Immediate Re-entry Challenges."

We do encourage students and parents to give us feedback, so that we can help others who may want to go on the same program. All Puget Sound students who are returning from study abroad programs are invited to a Welcome Back Celebration soon after classes start in the fall so that they can share experiences with other returning students and make plans to build on what they have learned.

We strongly believe that study abroad provides our students with the tools to foster closer intercultural understanding. We are especially grateful for the support and trust you have placed in your student, the program, and our office during a particularly unsettled time in the world.

If I, or my staff, can be of any further assistance, please let me know.

Best wishes,

Jannie Meisberger
Director, International Programs