As the university hosted its final Cultural Cafe of the semester, students got the opportunity to get a better look at the experience of studying abroad. 

For students who attended, they listened to Halima Behroz, a peer speaker from Afghanistan that discussed the multitudes of new experiences she’s gotten to have as an international student. 

Her presentation focused on the experiences she had growing up in the country and what it’s been like studying in the United States. While the bulk of this Cultural Cafe centered on various misconceptions that we commonly hold regarding her home country, there was much to be said about how she showed the life of a student studying abroad. 

Attending Colorado Mesa University (CMU) as a Grand Junction native, I feel that our university is primarily filled with students from throughout the state. Even students visiting from neighboring states are a rarity.

It often comes as a surprise when a student discusses having come from across the country; and rarer yet, to encounter a peer that has traveled from another nation entirely! After attending this event and meeting so many experienced peers, an entire world has been opened up to me.

This Cultural Cafe made me confront so many of the things that are missed out on when you stay in one place. And while CMU offers a number of outlets for students to explore the idea of studying abroad such as the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP), I had never considered the possibility of traveling for my undergrad. 

Behroz’s presentation is what truly opened my eyes to just how much could be gained from attending university in another state or nation.

Leaving Grand Junction opens opportunities to experience entirely new cultures and languages that exist out there, meet diverse people with histories that aren’t learned here and see entire new natural worlds and environments. 

This Cultural Cafe created the urge to see it all! While Grand Junction has many diverse people and cultures represented thanks to the university population, there are innumerable new people and new things to see in other nations. Studying abroad offers an amazing opportunity for students to try out life in another world in a secure environment such as a university. 

And did I mention the food? The Cultural Cafe offered a small sampling of authentic Afghan food, and there is much to be said about how little I’ve got to experience world foods here in Grand Junction. 

Any country you decide to travel to offers foods that differ completely and utterly from anything you can experience here. All of this being said, don’t disregard the various opportunities to travel abroad that may come to you at CMU.

Consider checking out the ISEP or the National Student Exchange program, or at the very least, travel whenever possible. Whether it’s to a neighboring state or across the world, there are new experiences to be had!