Story highlights

  • What experts say about resilience and mental health
  • How resilience serves you on study abroad
  • Steps to take to build resilience

Resilience. All our lives we hear about the importance of building it, as if it’s some tangible fortress we can construct around ourselves.

“You can get through anything,” we’re told, “if you’re resilient enough.”

Wow, sounds great—definitely want to be resilient! But, it would be helpful to know exactly what resilience means (particularly from a mental health perspective) and how it can be developed ahead of study abroad. It would also be helpful to suss out why it’s important to build resilience before heading out on a study abroad experience.

 

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What resilience is and what it isn’t

Everyone experiences challenges and makes mistakes when they study abroad. Resilience is how you react to and manage those things. Resilience is the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands, according to the American Psychological Association.

Students who demonstrate resilience can:

  • Address unexpected problems that arise
  • Adapt to unpredictable circumstances
  • Accept and learn from mistakes

To be clear, being resilient doesn’t mean avoiding difficult situations or never experiencing negative emotions—rather, it’s about being comfortable with navigating discomfort and overcoming challenges.

Being resilient does not mean:

  • You never make mistakes or encounter challenges
  • You’re immune to feeling stressed or anxious
  • You’re an expert in the world of cultural nuance

Also, worth noting: Resilience is not something a person is born with—it’s more like a skill that is learned.

What the experts say

When asked about the relationship between resilience and mental health, Alisa Tsykhotsky, therapist and facilitator at Mindhamok, defined resilience as:

“The ability to bounce back when adversity hits us. We all have a variation of emotional, social, physical, spiritual, and financial factors affecting our well-being, and for us to feel like we’re in balance, those different factors need to be in harmony. If we encounter a challenge, trauma, crisis or any other event that affects this harmony, we lose balance, and this can be the start of a person’s mental health deterioration, relapse, or crisis.”

And Pavan Khera-Pattar, Mindhamok therapist and counselor, provided another key insight:

“Resilience provides us with the capacity to effectively navigate adverse times in our lives. Resilient people are able to notice and manage their emotions, in a way that supports them to not become overwhelmed. Being flexible in your thinking and behavior is an important aspect of resilience. It allows individuals to be able to effectively deal with changing circumstances.”

 

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How building resilience serves students on study abroad

Study abroad involves immersing into new environments and cultures. The experience is rich with new routines, cultural shifts, unfamiliar food and (possibly) weather, and ways of moving about, plus a brand-new learning environment. Study abroad forces you to be resourceful—it pushes you past your comfort zone.

By building resilience, students can better navigate the challenges and adjust to this whole new world all around them.

Resilience also helps students manage feelings of homesickness and culture shock. It fosters the ability to connect with local students, faculty, and advisors.

If a student has the ability to be resilient, they can face the challenges and remain (for the most part) calm, composed, and healthy. Developing resilience before you study abroad allows the experience to be richer and more fulfilling.

5 ways to build resilience

Life is unpredictable, and life on study abroad is even more so. Here are five ways to build resilience before you study abroad.

1. Develop a consistent practice of wellness

Developing a healthy lifestyle is a legitimate practice that gives your body resources to manage stress and builds resilience. That’s because stress affects both the physical and emotional sides of our well-being.

  • Take care of your body with proper nutrition, hydration, and regular physical exercise to reduce the toll of stress.
  • Prioritize relationships and genuinely connect with people who care about you.

Before you go, have a plan to check in with your friends, family, and advisors on a regular basis, and learn what channels (voice, email, social media apps, etc.) you can use to connect while you’re abroad. Along with your support network at home, join a group abroad and connect with people who can remind you that you’re not alone in the midst of difficulties.

2. Practice mindful pauses

Practicing mindfulness teaches you to notice when your emotions are taking over. It helps you pause, check what’s happening, reflect on your experiences, and ground yourself in the moment.

Before you study abroad, practice becoming aware of those times when you are startled, angry, or surprised—and pause before you react. With consistent practice, the ability to notice your feelings will give you superpowers when you experience situations that are initially disorienting while abroad.

3. Establish a healthy sleep routine

A big part of developing a healthy sleep routine is understanding your personal levels of productivity during the day. Specifically, when are you the most and least productive?

When you study abroad, the time difference will naturally affect your sleep routine the first few days, but practicing good sleep patterns before you go will help you smoothly re-establish those behaviors on study abroad.

 

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4. Cultivate a positive mindset

Staying optimistic during dark periods is important for maintaining your mental health. This isn’t to say that what you are experiencing isn’t difficult or that it should be ignored, but staying hopeful and positive can help you see past the temporary setbacks.

Before study abroad, take note of the times when you feel down, disappointed, or negative—and actively engage in positive thinking. Know in your bones that you have the skills and abilities to combat the challenges you face.

5. Reflect on your goals

Setting reasonable goals for your study abroad experience is an important part of planning your journey. It creates a sense of purpose for your study abroad adventure.

Mindfully reflecting on your goals and recalling the experiences you are grateful for, especially during tough times, is a healthy way to remind yourself that you’ve made progress.

 

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And why it matters

In choosing to study abroad, you are electing to step away from everything you know—your sense of comfort and familiarity—into a new world that may be largely unknown. And the benefits are undeniable and lasting.

Study abroad gives you the chance to develop and build on supportive relationships—be they new or old. It helps you develop problem-solving skills and increases your sense of worth and self-confidence. Resilience plays a significant role in supporting students who study abroad by helping them navigate the unique challenges they inevitably encounter on the experience.

By the end of your study abroad experience, you will have a wellspring of self-esteem you didn’t have before.