Study Abroad Student Association

You may experience reverse culture shock when your return home. You feelings may include disappointment, depression, or feelings of isolation upon your return home. You have had an incredible experience and have grown a lot in the past months. Your friends have remained the same. They may get tired of hearing about your experience, or maybe you are having difficulty explaining the culture or why it was such a great experience. You may find yourself dreaming of returning or always comparing things in the U.S. to your host country. This is a common experience for study abroad alumni. We have some suggestions to help you stay connected with your experience in a positive way.

Join the Study Abroad Student Association (SASA)!

SASA has two goals: to provide a network of support and shared interest for study abroad students and to assist the Office of Study Abroad. SASA members also help with the study abroad fair and various other projects. There are various events throughout the semester as well as a monthly meeting. Check out our Home page for upcoming SASA events. Join SASA and provide internationally minded leadership on our campus!

Be a Study Abroad Volunteer for new international exchange students! 

Help pick the students up at the beginning of the semester from the XNA airport and get them settled into life on campus.  If you both want to, you could then meet up as often as you like during the semester,maybe once every other week or however much time you can spare according to both your schedules.  If you're interested, print off the application form and send it back to the Office of Study Abroad.

Other ideas to stay internationally involved on campus:

Become A Cross Cultural Mentor for International Student Orientation at the UA. Guide new international students through orientation and the maze of UA policies and procedures and help them become familiar with campus. For more information contact International Student Services at 479-575-5003 or mailto:iss@uark.edu

Be a Conversation Partner. Spring International Language Center (SILC) is a school for teaching English as a second language. The students often request conversation partners to work on "everyday" English. To volunteer contact SILC at 479-575-7600. SILC is located on the 7th floor of Hotz Hall.

Converse at Foreign Language Tables. Looking for a way to maintain your new found fluency gained overseas? Check with the Foreign Language department at (479)575-2951 or with one of your foreign language professors for information on informal foreign language conversation groups.