Sammendrag
Participation in study abroad programs can offer students an educational insight into another culture; heavily strengthening their intercultural competence. This opportunity can additionally give students the necessary skills in order to think and act globally in our interconnected world. However, upon reentry, students are faced with various obstacles that can either make or break their reentry experiences. These challenges can ultimately determine their ability to comprehend and utilize these skills obtained from studying abroad. As international offices heavily prepare students pre-departure, reentry resources and programming to help students comprehend their experiences have been neglected due to their voluntary participation. Using a qualitative case study research design, I conducted 28 one-on-one, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews at two universities in the United States. The research ultimately revealed that students who exerted high levels of self-motivation and self-efficacy were more prone to seek out and connect with their international offices upon reentry. Furthermore, these students were more likely to obtain opportunities to work with and in their international office heavily strengthening their reentry and intercultural competence. The research also showed that students who were not active in seeking out the voluntary resources and programming were less satisfied with their reentry and study abroad experience. Additionally, these students felt their international office was at a disservice to them. The research offers detailed insight into the affective, cognitive and behavioral components sojourners go through during their reentry and how they coped throughout these processes. The research also gives insight into the specific role and inner workings of two international offices helping give insight and bring rational to their reentry efforts, resources and programming. Moreover the research addressed the current obstacles each international office face with reentry.