[An Essay from My Heart]

One Hour of Questions That Turn Short-Term Study Abroad from an “Experience” into an “Asset”

Yesterday, at the invitation of the Center for Global Engagement at James Madison University, I had the pleasure of spending an engaging hour with 23 health-related majors from Kyung Dong University in Korea who are participating in a two-month study abroad program in the United States. During that time, we explored several practical themes and held a brief but meaningful discussion. I would like to share a summary of that conversation here.

Two months. Long, if you measure them in days. Brief, if you measure them in memory. I spoke with these students about how this brief period could become not merely a “trip,” but a genuine turning point. There were no grand theories—only practical questions. I began with this: “Do you realize that how you choose to spend these precious two months in the United States could profoundly shape the direction of your life?” I could see their expressions begin to change.

Survival Is Strategy

We began not with “exciting opportunities,” but with safety and daily life. American individualism, unfamiliar silences, party culture, alcohol, and legal responsibility, how to respond if approached by police, and even the tone of an email to a professor. Although they are health majors, what they will immediately encounter is not the U.S. healthcare system, but dorm kitchens, classrooms, and campus culture.

I told them: “Here, clarity matters more than subtle social awareness. If you remain silent, you are not seen as polite—you may be seen as unprepared.”

In short-term programs, the greatest risk is not ignorance, but vague overconfidence. The purpose of this first session was simple: reduce fear and lower the cost of avoidable mistakes.

Logic Over the “Correct Answer”

Our second topic focused on the mindset of the American classroom. Korean students are often exceptionally well-trained in identifying the “correct answer.” But here, the questions are different:

“Why do you think so?”
“What evidence supports your claim?”
“Is there another perspective?”

For students in health-related fields, this shift is especially critical. Medicine and public health stand not on memorized answers, but on evidence-based thinking. I emphasized a simple transformation: Correct Answer → Logical Argument. A few students nodded quietly—a small but meaningful signal of understanding. Participation in American classrooms is not about courage alone; it is about preparation. And silence is not always humility; sometimes it is a missed opportunity.

Turning Two Months into an Asset

The third message was more pragmatic: “How will you turn this experience into more than a single line on your résumé?” Many students see short-term study abroad as a credential. I gently challenged that assumption. The true asset is not the number of lines on a résumé, but a shift in perspective: how you converse with professors, how you ask questions, how you understand networking—not as exchanging business cards, but as building genuine relationships. Healthcare is about people. Cultural sensitivity and communication skills can be just as important as technical medical knowledge. Experiencing a different system for two months is not simply overseas exposure—it is an expansion of one’s intellectual horizon. I left them with a single assignment: “Describe in one sentence how these two months have changed you.” If they can answer that question sincerely, the program will already have been a success.

Why This Orientation Matters

Short-term stays abroad are powerful—but volatile. Without preparation, they become tourism. With intention, they become transformation. For health majors in particular, this matters deeply. Public health transcends borders. Healthcare systems are rooted in culture. To encounter another country’s educational style and cognitive framework is not merely to improve one’s English; it is to learn an entirely different approach to solving problems. This one-hour session was not about transferring information. It was about slightly shifting direction. Two months is, in truth, too short to fully understand America. But when direction changes, even a brief period can dramatically alter the coordinates of a life. By the end of the session, their eyes seemed brighter filled with curiosity rather than uncertainty. I quietly hope that during these two months, they will live not merely as “visiting students,” but as observers and active participants.

In addition, I introduced them to practical ways to use the latest artificial intelligence and digital tools in both academic work and daily life—emphasizing ethical use and critical thinking. I briefly surveyed various tools and guided each student in installing a powerful generative AI application on their smartphones so they could begin experimenting immediately.

Finally, drawing from my own years living in the United States—first as an international student and later as an engineer and professor—I shared practical insights I had learned through experience, as well as selected themes from books I have written over the years, organized around the three core topics discussed. And I am convinced of this: When these ambitious students complete their programs and cross the vast Pacific Ocean back to Korea, those two months will no longer feel like just two months. They will have become not merely an experience, but ‘a new perspective.’ ***

February 24, 2026
 

At Sungsunjae (崇善齋)

{Solti}

한국어 번역: https://www.ktown1st.com/blog/VALover/348475