Personal Goals for Study Abroad

I could not be more excited to be studying abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark at the

Copenhagen Business School in Spring 2016. This study abroad experience will be a wonderful

opportunity for me to grow as an independent adult in many aspects. I hope to grow

academically and intellectually, personally, and professionally. My goals for the upcoming

semester are segmented into those three categories. I believe that these goals are realistically

achievable with some effort and are extremely relevant to my background and experience, as

well as learning more about the rapidly increasing globalization of today’s social and business

world.

My first goal during study abroad is to learn Danish. Even though more than 80 percent

of Danes know how to speak English fluently, I believe that learning how to speak the native

language will be integral to understanding their culture. Learning Danish, even though I will be a

beginner, will show the locals that I am sincerely trying to learn about their culture and am

making an effort to assimilate, which will also make it easier to connect and be friends with local

students and residents. Learning Danish and being able to hold a basic conversation is a realistic

goal because I plan on taking a class at CBS called “Danish: Integrated Skills”. The objectives of

the class, as stated in the syllabus, is to understand simple everyday conversation, understand

important phrases and expression, essential importation, and even identify important information

in newspaper articles. The course’s final is a twenty minute oral exam, which will ensure that I

will be able to speak at length in Danish. I am excited to learn the native language, and hope to

use those skills to converse with locals. My ultimate goal is for locals to think that I am a native

as well, even if for only for a minute or so.

My second goal while studying abroad is to integrate into Danish culture. Culture is made

up of several elements including food, language, holidays, customs and norms, and arts and

literature. Aspects of culture that are specific to Denmark includes biking, architecture, being

green and innovative. More than 40% of Danes bike every day, and few hope to own cars in the

city. Copenhagen is known for its blue bike lanes, which are only for bikers. With so many

people biking everywhere every day, it is extremely convenient to use a bike as a main source of

transportation in comparison to the United States. While in Copenhagen, I plan to rent or borrow

a bike. My goal is to not only learn how to ride a bike, but also use it as my main mode of

traveling to different places in the city. I will work at this goal every day while abroad because it

is the easiest way of getting around the city, and I believe with some effort and skill, I will be

able to achieve it.

In addition to learning how to bike to integrate into Danish culture, I hope to bike around

the city to learn about and appreciate the city’s impressive architecture. My favorite architect is

Bjarke Ingels, who has built some of the newest and most innovative buildings around the city.

One of his buildings, currently under construction, is a power plant that turns landfills into

energy. Not only that, but he turned the top of the building into a ski slope, and has a smoke

stack that blows smoke circle of carbon dioxide. Copenhagen has not only cool, new buildings,

but it also has architecture dating back to the 1600’s during the time of the Vikings. I also hope

to explore those buildings and see how they add to the history and story of the city.

I also hope to integrate into the Danish culture by making friends with fellow students at

CBS, as well as any local I may meet while exploring the city or through any activities that I may

partake in, such as club sports or business clubs at school. I hope to form meaningful

relationships and friendships with the Danes during my time there. Danes are known for initially

being more standoffish because they believe in personal privacy and not invading the privacy of

others. However, once you are friends with a Dane, they are known to be especially welcoming,

warm, and kind. I believe this relates to the low power distance score that Denmark has. The low

score in Power Distance means that Danes are more comfortable with egalitarian relationships

and equality in society. Having Danish friends will help me understand customs and norms

unique to Denmark and more specifically Copenhagen. They would also come helpful as

“cultural translators”, should any cultural miscommunication occur, they would be able to

explain the situation to me from a Danish perspective. Denmark also has one of the lowest

poverty rates, while the US has one of the highest. These are just some of aspects of culture and

society that I hope to learn more about and explore while in the country. These reasons might be

attributed to the countries extremely high tax rates, but I hope to see if there are any additional

factors that might attribute to their successful society.

During my semester in Denmark, I hope to learn more about Danish society in terms of

policies and business. Recently, Denmark was brought up in the Democratic Primaries

Presidential debates as extremely Socialist, yet successful as a society. The country is one of the

most unique in terms of the benefits that people receive and how their society is more equal.

According to the World Happiness Report, Denmark is one of the world’s happiest countries. In

addition, Danes have one of the shortest work weeks, and pays the far less than the United States

on healthcare. Denmark also pays its students $900 per month to attend college, which is the

opposite of the student situation in the US, where students can pay more than $50,000 per year to

attend college. These will be just some of the aspects I hope to explore during my time there.

Even though the country has an extremely high score in terms of individualism and a relatively

low score in pragmatism, they still seem to care about the wellbeing and welfare of their citizens.

It will be interesting for me to explore the correlation or lack thereof. I hope to gain a greater

understanding of this aspect of the culture through speaking with students and hearing their

understanding of Danish society.

Besides exploring Copenhagen and Denmark, another one of my goals is to travel around

Europe and visit different cities. In these other countries, I would to observe and try to

understand the culture of cultures of those countries through experiencing their food, language,

norms. I hope to explore countries in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe. These

countries include: Norway, Sweden, Spain, England, Portugal, Italy, Czech Republic, Poland,

and more. I believe that visiting other countries is extremely important in understanding the

culture of Europe as a continent because many of the countries are part of the European Union.

More so, they are geographically so close to each other that each country’s culture and politics

seem that they would be affected by one another. This goal is highly attainable because I am

interested in visiting my fellow students in their respective study abroad countries and programs.

Many of my friends will be in London, Maastricht, Madrid, and Italy for their BSBA internship

and study abroad programs.

Another goal of mine is to get out of my comfort zone during my time abroad. Being in a

different continent, country, city, and culture might be difficult to adjust to because of possible

culture shock and homesickness. In order to have the best study abroad experience possible, it

will be necessary to step out of my comfort zone and do things that scare me. This might include

making new friends, exploring new places on my own, learning how to ride a bike, or traveling

on my own. Stepping out of my comfort zone often will help with personal growth and

development. It helps that Denmark has a high score in Indulgence because I have a lower

indulgence score and am in higher in restraint. I hope that through interacting with people and

situation, I will be able to improve my self-reliance. In terms of achievability, I will push myself

to do something that I am scared of everyday, however small the activity is.

I believe that this set of goals will help me develop academically, personally, and

professionally. Through learning Danish, integrating into Danish culture, stepping out of my

comfort zone, and understanding policies and commerce in Denmark, traveling around Europe,

and making meaningful friendships along the way, I hope to have a wonderful study abroad

experience. Having heard from students who have previously studied abroad, I hope that my

experience will be as meaningful and impactful as I have heard it will be.