Many of us international students, who chose to invest in education in another country, already have a career we want to pursue. The cost of studying abroad is very high, so it’s not something we choose to do without having a fairly fixed idea of the type of job we want, and we want to ensure that the course we take will help us get that job.
However, our fixed ideas can often change when we begin to interact with a whole new culture.The culture interferes with our way of thinking, and there are different ways of interacting compared to our experiences in our home country. I noticed this first-hand. I chose to do a post-degree diploma in Marketing; among the basic disciplines was accounting. My relationship with numbers has always been a rocky one and I haven’t really practiced my math skills until now; therefore, a career involving accounting was never on the table for me. However, the new approach that the course gave me attracted my attention, and I realized that some aspects of the subject even made me want to continue learning.
When something like this happens to you, do not let it pass. I’m not saying that it’s now my dream to be an accountant (maybe someday), but I’ve taken the opportunity to gain new skills that might open new doors. It also removed my fear of dealing with numbers.
The new discovery also brought me fears: was the career that I chose and that led me out of my country not the right one for me? On the other hand, this nervousness can be seen as something good—it’s that feeling that precedes a new challenge.
It’s important that we never lose the will to follow new paths and learn new things.
Our choice of living abroad and the high financial investment bring many expectations, including a career improvement in the field we have chosen. When different paths appear and cause us to deviate from the initial goal, those expectations became a greater weight to carry, and it’s a greater weight than it should be.
My tip is this: live in the moment. Seize every opportunity that presents itself in life. You may be learning new ways and skills that could make a difference in the future.