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Why 10 Months?
By Chloe V., YES Abroad 2019-2020 Morocco
I studied abroad in Rabat, Morocco during the 2019-2020 academic year, and YES Abroad has paved the path for my current career in international health. YES Abroad sets you up with the skills for success for the rest of your life. It's like a (fun) boot camp for becoming a resilient, flexible and adaptive character. YES Abroad is nothing like college study abroad; unlike many programs, you're very independent throughout the year. That's what makes the program so amazing. You really get to know the host community and country, learn the language and push yourself.
Adapting to new societies is a skill. There are so many small things that you have to observe and pick up, and doing this independently is a unique and useful skill when working in international settings. With the "international skills" I've learned during my YES year, I've gotten positions as a French language instructor and Spanish tutor for my college work-study. In my sophomore year of undergrad, I got funds to make a documentary in Costa Rica, and a year later received a fellowship to design and carry out a research project in Mexico. The directors of both of these scholarships explicitly mentioned my year abroad as a key competitive aspect of my application; they're confident that I can manage myself and a project abroad, since I've done it before.
My experience in Morocco also allowed me to meet so many incredible people, during and even after the program. Your host country feels like a home, and you can relate to people there for the rest of your life. Every North African I meet is instantly a friend, as we chat in/ about Arabic, culture and society. At college, I was always invited for iftar and Eid during Ramadan. I'm currently interning in Chennai, India through a Watson Fellowship, and could not be more thankful for my YES Abroad year. The rest of your career will be there when you get back, and you'll jump into the workforce as a more competitive, broader and more creative thinker. Apply to YES Abroad now!
