For those interested in broadening their minds, I highly recommend living in a country other than the one you were born in for at least a year. Preferably one with a different language than your first language. It's pretty hard to do that while still hanging on to your narrow mindset. I work remotely and I've had the privilege of being able to live internationally since 2012. But even if you don't work remotely there are ways to have a similar experience. I once volunteered for a school in a foreign country for two years. Volunteer opportunities are abundant. And if you can't live internationally for one reason or another, learning another language and joining language meetup groups is a great way to connect with people and ideas that will expand your mind. And reading books from authors outside of the places you're familiar with is also a great way to expand your mind by exposing yourself to new ideas.
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." Mark Twain
I'm sure that Mark Twain didn't have today's tourists in mind, who are rushing from tourist attraction to tourist attraction, calling themselves "traveller" instead of "tourist".
To get from tourist to traveller, just add 8000km to any flight taken.
All the distance in the world means nothing if a traveler is still mentally tied to their home country. There's a good number of expats in [country] who hang out at Irish pubs with other expats, bitch about [country], and don't bother learning the language.
You have to be willing to unmoor yourself, which I think deep down a lot of people aren't seeking to do.
I like the “unmoor” phrasing. Thank you :).
To truly immerse oneself, primarily communicate in a language foreign to one’s country of origin, and eat local foods (no harm in indulging in foods from back home every once in a while). And give people the benefit of the doubt whenever possible.
Actually, check out his book, "Innocents Abroad." It's a great travel native and lampoon of his cruising companions who manage to stay small-minded in a big world.
My daughter just started college, so we got our fill of the whole process of choosing a college. Virtually every college claimed to offer some sort of overseas study, either as a requirement or as a frictionless option. The exceptions are regional and commuter colleges that tend to be geared towards being more affordable.
I spent a while living abroad. Here is a nugget I found out. You don’t have to go through the schools exchange program. It’s vastly cheaper to simply apply yourself. Then make sure the credits transfer back (most will if the school isn’t particularly choosy). Most exchanges charge you standard tuition. Works out great for the foreign student but not so great for the American exchange student paying US tuition.
A colleague of mine (french) did his exchange at Stanford. He really enjoyed it. Enjoyed it even more once he found out what Stanford students were paying ($$$$) compared to what he was paying, PARIS-IX is practically free.
100% this. I studied abroad in Istanbul, and when I was there I was blown away at how normal it was to either study abroad, study abroad multiple times or take a gap year abroad. It seems like a given to Europeans that they will do something like this.
Most CS professionals are going to do work that has a potential global impact. It's at best negligent, and and worst destructive to do work without understanding the impact of the work you're doing. (See Facebook, Twitter, et al.) On top of the ethical factor, there's also the fact that understanding and empathizing with more diverse perspectives makes one a better developer of user facing software.
