ISU international students might already be experiencing a different environment by coming to study in the United States, but for some that is not enough.

As the international undergraduate population has grown, so has the number of international students going abroad again, said Monica Ernberger, program coordinator at the Study Abroad Center.

“It has become increasingly popular. France, Italy and the United Kingdom are favorites among international students,” Ernberger said.

Many international students seek to study abroad during the summer.

“A lot of times they are looking to do something with their summer that is going to help show that willingness to do something different, and a lot of times they are interested in learning another language,” Ernberger said.

Afifah Abdul Rahim, senior in animal science from Singapore and participant of two study abroad programs, said she agrees.

“To truly understand a language, you have to embrace the culture and the language in the way it is practiced [in the native country]. It is like English for us,” Afifah said. “Coming here, I knew English, but here they have their own slang.”

A lot of international students are surprised when they realize that they can study abroad as well, Ernberger said. They, too, go through the ISU abroad application system like domestic students. But when it comes to the visa, things can get a little tricky.

“Some students’ [current] visas are bound by number of entries or what they are here for,” Ernberger said.

In some cases entering a study abroad program might require the international student to reapply for their U.S.-visa afterward, maybe even in their own home country.

“That might get a bit complicated, but more often, I see that [students have] that multiple-entry visa,” Ernberger said. “It is not as challenging as it used to be.”

Afifah, who has been on a three-week study abroad trip to Germany, Poland and Denmark in July 2011 and will accompany a trip to Thailand this winter, describes her travels abroad as a life-changing experience.

“At the end of the day, there is only so much that you can learn from the textbook. [Studying abroad] you get to put yourself in the shoes of people who actually live there,” Afifah said. “You are emerging yourself in the culture. There will be things that will grab your eye and you will realize that it is so different.”

Those differences could sometimes lead to a cultural shock. International students coming to the United States might have experienced it, and it is possible that they experience it again in another country, Afifah said. But since they have already adapted to a different culture, they can be better prepared.

“Because I am already in America where I do not have family around, I feel that I am more independent, and sometimes I feel that I am more open-minded to changes,” Afifah said. “Because I have that background, I am sometimes a little bit more prepared to be away from family, to not have the food, to not to have the environment that you are familiar with. I have already gone through those experiences multiple times.”

While studying abroad a second time is another enriching experience in those students lives, all have returned to Iowa State, Ernberger said.

“If you are here for four years, you really identify this place, at least temporarily, as home,” Ernberger said “It is nice to come back to that place that you carved out as your own in the world.”