Study Abroad: Fear vs. Fact (SBCC Edition)

Picture this: you're eating breakfast overlooking the Mediterranean before your morning lecture. Your weekend plans involve a train to a new country instead of a study session at the library. You come home with a passport full of stamps, a phone full of inside jokes with people who now live on three different continents, and a story for literally every job interview you'll ever have.

That's study abroad. It's one of the wildest, most rewarding rides you can take in community college — and yes, it still counts toward your degree. But let's be honest: packing up and moving across the world for a semester (or even a few weeks in the summer) can feel like a huge leap. Good news: the fear is almost always bigger than the reality. Here's the truth behind the top worries, SBCC-style — plus all the good stuff nobody warns you about.

Fear: "I'll be homesick and miserable the whole time."

Fact: Missing home is completely normal — it just means you have a good life to miss. The trick is filling your new life abroad fast, and SBCC makes that easy, because you're not going alone. You're traveling with a whole crew of fellow SBCC students who are just as nervous and just as excited as you are. Most students say the homesickness fades within the first week or so, right around the time the group starts feeling less like classmates and more like family.

That's the part people underestimate: the friendships. There's something about navigating a foreign train system together, or getting hopelessly lost looking for dinner, that bonds people fast. Students consistently say the people they meet abroad end up being some of the closest friends of their entire college experience — the kind you're still texting years later, planning reunion trips to the very city where it all started.

Fear: "Where am I even going to live?"

Fact: Housing abroad is figured out for you. Depending on the program, you might land in a dorm-style residence, a shared apartment, or with a host family — and most of the time you can request to room with a friend if you're both going.

Because SBCC's programs are faculty-directed, housing is arranged in advance as part of the package, so you're not left hunting for an apartment in a country where you don't speak the language yet. Instead, you get to spend that energy on the fun stuff — figuring out which market has the best pastries, or which rooftop has the best sunset view for your next photo.

Fear: "I don't speak the language — I'll be completely lost."

Fact: You don't need to be fluent in another language to travel. The programs are built specifically for English speakers, and even in places where the local language dominates, "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" goes a long way. Locals generally respond well to visitors who make an honest effort, even a clumsy one — and butchering the pronunciation of a menu item is basically a rite of passage that makes for a great story later.

SBCC also offers pre-departure information meetings before every program, so you'll walk in with practical tools — not just vibes — for navigating a new language and culture. And by the time you come home, "picked up conversational Spanish/Italian/French while living abroad" is the kind of line that makes a resume pop.

Fear: "It's going to be way too expensive."

Fact: Cost is a real factor, but it's rarely a dead end. Financial aid can typically be applied to study abroad programs. Scholarships built specifically for study abroad students exist too — you just have to ask.

Talk to a Financial Aid advisor and the Study Abroad Office early. The earlier you start the conversation, the more options you'll have — and the sooner you can stop stressing about the budget and start planning which weekend excursions you're most excited about.

Fear: "It's just going to be classroom time in a different country."

Fact: Far from it. Excursions are baked right into every program — think guided visits to ancient ruins, museums, local markets, historical sites, and hands-on experiences you simply can't get from a textbook or a Zoom lecture. A marine biology field trip becomes a boat excursion. A history lecture becomes standing in the actual ruins you're studying. Your "class field trip" might be a weekend in a completely different city.

This is the part that turns a normal semester into the semester you'll never stop talking about. Years from now, you won't remember most of your Tuesday/Thursday lectures on campus — but you'll absolutely remember the excursion where you got caught in a sudden rainstorm exploring a foreign city with your new best friends, or the local festival your host family dragged you to. Those are the stories that come out at every dinner party for the rest of your life.

Fear: "I'll fall behind on my degree or lose credits."

Fact: Study abroad classes are designed to transfer, including toward the UC and CSU systems, so a semester abroad doesn't have to mean a semester lost. If you've already completed a course offered on a program, you can typically swap it for an alternative — you just need to clear it with the study abroad office first.

Fear: "I'll miss out on everything happening back on campus."

Fact: FOMO is real, but so is the fact that you're trading a semester of the familiar for a semester you'll talk about for the rest of your life. Group chats, social media, and the occasional video call keep you looped in on the small stuff — and most of what you'd be "missing" will still be there when you're back.

Fear: "What if something goes wrong and I need help?"

Fact: You're not on your own out there. Faculty-led programs mean an SBCC instructor is present throughout, most programs have a service provide with local staff and the Study Abroad Office builds in health and safety resources, and you'll have international health insurance information.

Fear: "People will think I'm just being a stereotypical tourist."

Fact: The "obnoxious tourist" reputation is easy to avoid — just show up curious instead of comfortable. Try the food. Attempt the language, even badly. Ask questions instead of assuming. Locals can tell the difference between someone passing through and someone actually trying to connect, and they tend to meet effort with warmth.

The Bonus Nobody Talks About: It Looks Incredible on a Resume

Here's the part that matters long after the trip ends: employers notice students who studied abroad. Adapting to a new culture, solving problems without your usual support system, communicating across a language barrier — those are the exact skills companies look for and rarely see spelled out on a typical resume. "Studied abroad" signals adaptability, independence, and initiative before you even get to the interview. In a stack of applications from students who never left campus, yours is the one with a story worth asking about.

The Bottom Line

Every one of these fears is valid — and every one of them has a workaround, plus a payoff on the other side that's honestly hard to put into words until you've lived it. SBCC has been sending students abroad since 1973, to more than 20 countries, which means whatever you're nervous about has almost certainly been figured out by someone before you — and whatever adventure you're hoping for has almost certainly already happened to someone who sat exactly where you're sitting now.

Next step: Review the available study abroad programs on the program page, set up an appointment with the Study Abroad Program Advisor and stop by the Study Abroad Office (IE-1, 721 Cliff Drive) or check out an upcoming info meeting or scholarship workshop. It costs nothing to go ask questions — and it might be the first step toward the semester you'll be telling stories about for the rest of your life.