Both undergraduate and graduate students studying abroad often sacrifice their personal relationships and sense of connection to a community that many of their peers enjoy back in the United States.

With this in mind, Margaret Malewski, an author and resident of several different countries during her lifetime, recently wrote GenXpat: The Young Professionals’ Guide to Making a Successful Life Abroad.

The book’s title refers to a group of young professionals who have gone to live overseas to help them gain a more global perspective.

The book contains a variety of tips about living abroad, including how to deal with culture shock and how to conduct business in different countries.

Traveling abroad can be especially tough for young people from the United States, as they often experience a negative attitude toward Americans overseas, as indicated by the book.

In a column from the March 21 issue of The New York Times, entitled “On the Road, You and Me,” opinion columnist Nicholas Kristof pointed out that in many other countries, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, there is a tradition of young people taking a year off before going to college to travel the world — and picking up menial jobs to support themselves as they travel.

Kristof argued that this type of experience may be more educational for students than time spent in a traditional classroom.

He also pointed out that study abroad programs that exist in American colleges often fail to provide the educational experience that living in another country for an extended period of time would provide and proposed that American colleges start offering a semester’s worth of credit for students who come into college after spending a year traveling the world.

In spite of the obstacles facing them as Americans, the lure of living and working overseas has led many N.C. State alumni to leave their home country and go out in search of a wider global perspective.

Many of these former students participated in study abroad while attending the University and decided to move overseas after graduation based on their good experiences during the semester programs they participated in.

This was the case for Donald Chapman, a statistics major who graduated in December 1998. Chapman, who currently works as an English teacher in South Korea, said that he had not considered living abroad until after he participated in a study abroad program to the Netherlands.

Before moving to South Korea, Chapman also lived in Australia, New Zealand, Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan. He held a variety of different jobs during this time, including working as a security guard in Australia and New Zealand and as a logistics contractor in the Middle East.

Chapman said that attitudes towards Americans have been different in all of the countries he lived and traveled in.

“The countries in Europe have a more negative view toward Americans, and those views have become more negative in the last four or five years, after the ‘War on Terror’ began,” Chapman said. “I found it ironic that the country with the most positive attitude about Americans that I have lived in was Afganistan. In Korea, the view of Americans is indifferent, because Americans have had a military presence there for many years.”

Chapman said some of the negative attitudes toward Americans that he encountered may have stemmed from the reluctance that some have to travel internationally.

“The majority of travelers that I have met have been from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand,” Chapman said. “A lot of Americans are uninformed about what’s going on in the world. Spending time living abroad can help someone get a better idea of how we are perceived abroad.”

Chapman agreed with Kristof that offering college credit for students who take time to live and work in foreign countries would be a good way of encouraging young Americans to travel more.

“It would be a great form of internship. I wish that it would have been available to me when I was in college,” Chapman said. “It would be good for students, it would be good for the University, and it would be good for the host country.”

Another alumnus who currently lives abroad — Ryan Kellogg, a graduate in chemical engineering and multi-disciplinary studies — graduated in May 2002.

Kellogg lives in a rural area of the Netherlands, two and a half hours northeast of the Dutch capital of Amsterdam.

Like Chapman, Kellogg had his first experience with travel overseas through a study abroad program, spending a semester in Seoul, South Korea in 1999.

Kellogg landed a job in the Netherlands working for the Shell group as a reservoir engineer, later moving to a business role with the company where he works to optimize natural gasoline production in the Netherlands.

Kellogg also experienced a lot of anti-American sentiment in Europe. He added that while the negative attitudes didn’t cause any negative experiences for him, there were a few times when he felt uncomfortable.

“For the most part, people in the Netherlands are good about separating their feelings towards the U.S. government from their feelings about American people in general,” Kellogg said. “I came to Europe just before the war in Iraq began, and it was very awkward to see some of the protests that happened in Europe. It was difficult being in a foreign country seeing the American flag burned and effigies of President Bush burned. I never had any experience feeling threatened and haven’t experienced any prejudice, though.”

Kellogg said living and working in another country would be helpful for young Americans looking to get ahead in professional careers.

He pointed out that most major corporations have a global focus, and that having international experience can be a major selling point for young people trying to get hired.

He also argued that the simple act of living in another country made one more resourceful and able to deal with difficult situations.

“You have to deal with adversity while living abroad. Even your day-to-day interactions take on a new difficulty because there are aspects that are different in other countries, even other English speaking countries,” Kellogg said.

One alumnus who has made several different trips to live abroad is Michael Mineiro, a 2001 graduate with a degree in political science with a concentration in international relations.

Mineiro, now an attorney in Raleigh, has made one trip to Hong Kong and two trips to mainland China since his graduation.

His first trip was in 2002, where he worked as an English teacher in Mandihe, China for six months. He took a trip to Hong Kong in 2004 as a visiting scholar.

His most recent trip was in 2005, when he spent three months traveling across China and six months as a professor in Beijing.

Mineiro offered yet another perspective about attitudes toward Americans in other countries.

“In general, people treated Americans well, and foreigners in general were well respected. A lot of Chinese people still look up to America and the freedom that it represents,” he said. “There are some questions about our foreign policy, but most people could make the distinction between the American government and American citizens.”

While he said his experiences overseas were extremely enjoyable and educational to him on a personal level, he indicated that his travels have yet to help him get a better job in North Carolina.

However, he has high hopes that his international background may help him secure a government job in Washington, D.C.

Mineiro said his time at NCSU was helpful during his stint living abroad. He also added he would definitely recommend that any students who are thinking about living abroad should follow through and do it.

“My experiences at NCSU were excellent preparation for my time overseas. I was proud to represent NCSU, North Carolina and the United States,” he said. “I encourage anyone who is interested in living abroad to go for it.”