Abstract:
This thesis explores the challenges and triumphs experienced by three students who spent the summer abroad on international internships. Through their individual stories and journals, they shared how they questioned their own values, their nationality, and the value of formal education. They also experienced changing relationships and new career aspirations while finding different support systems to help them through these struggles. This study found similarities between the stories of these students and the experiences student development theorists deem necessary to move students through this process of identity development. By understanding the experience of students abroad through identity development theories, we can begin to understand the support that needs to be provided by student affairs professionals. This study concludes with suggestions for additional types of support that could be useful to students as they process their identity development abroad.
