Go away for a while

Study abroad for a semester or a year, or serve as volunteer overseas (if you’re Christian, this is sometimes known as being a “student missionary”). It will give you great life experience by offering maturity, better understanding of a culture that isn’t yours, and help develop in you a servant’s attitude. You’ll also meet great friends that you wouldn’t have met had you stayed in your current small environment.

In fact, if you’re on campus right now, go over to your Colleges Abroad office or Student Missions office and make an appointment to talk. Do this even if you think you’re not interested. At least find out more information. I’ve never regretted checking out leads that I didn’t end up pursuing. That itself is life experience.

I NEVER thought I would be a student missionary. That was something only weirdos did. And yes there are some weirdos who do it. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.

It was not a decision I made quickly. I had heard about other people’s experiences and talked to a LOT of different people about it for more than 18 months. Then, after my junior year of college, I spent the next year volunteering as a high school teacher on the Pacific island of Yap, part of the four-island nation of Micronesia.

I learned I was a decent teacher. The fact that I could hold my own in front of rowdy high schoolers and even excel at it was better communication training than any communication class I could have taken. I graduated college knowing who I was and what I could do because I had been pushed. Otherwise I might have graduated thinking, “Yikes, classes are over, time to go test the real thing.” Yap is also where I found out I wanted to be a writer.

(Also, I still draw lessons from teaching expert Harry Wong. We had taken a day off school for teacher training and the last thing I wanted to do was sit around and listen to a 10-year-old cassette tapes series of a Chinese guy with an afro whose name was “Harry Wong” tell me how to be a better teacher. I was already doing fine. But wow, he improved my teaching 100 percent, particularly by empowering both students and teachers with excellent classroom management methods.)

Years later, in grad school I wasn’t that jazzed about a summer class in Thailand, but over time it increasingly appealed to me (mainly because it was worth extra course credit). I took it and that ended up being one of my best experiences, both fun and eye-opening.

These kinds of experiences also look good on a résumé. Potential employers may appreciate this kind of experience when looking over your experience, especially if they also spent time overseas.

Some people are eager to get out of school as if they’re in a rush to keep up with others. I’m telling you, taking a year off to serve others is worship to your Creator and it develops you faster. And there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be efficient about school. That was certainly me in grad school.

On a financial note, being a student missionary doesn’t cost anything – your friends, teachers, parents and church members will donate the money for your plane ticket.

Even U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry Black talks about the benefits of this type of experience in his excellent book “The Blessing of Adversity.” Imagine a kid from inner-city Baltimore taking a year off of college in Alabama and finding himself in rural Peru for a while.

While some people tout their experiences of short-term mission trips – which are good and offer great experience – I recommend a longer term, such as a semester or a year somewhere. A short-term, few-week trip doesn’t allow you to watch community life unfold over time. That’s where you learn the most.

I’ve never had anyone say, “I wish I hadn’t been a student missionary/Peace Core worker/studied abroad,” even from people who had more difficult experiences. Moreover, while in college I heard from people who hadn’t gone as a student missionary – several mentors, professors and business professionals would say they wish they had done something like that. This kind of talk made an impression on me all through my sophomore year: “Why is it so unanimous?” I thought. Now I know why.

And I want you to know why, too.

Take that first step. At least go and find out more information. Do it right now.