“Education teaches you to think. Travel teaches you to understand.”
When I think about the HUGE added value of doing an MBA program abroad, this idea is one of the essential concepts that influences that decision. What you will learn by your MBA is so much influenced about where and with whom you're learning. So as we go through the process of researching and applying to business schools, I encourage everyone to step out of the comfy little bubbles and seriously considering doing your MBA abroad.
The Prophet Mohamed is credited saying:
“Don’t tell me how educated you are. Tell me how much you’ve traveled.”
As someone who’s been to 60+ countries, planning to visiting 100+ in my lifetime, I’ve always been enamored by international travel and incredibly cognisant of what travel teaches us by interacting with locals, tasting the food, hearing the music, dancing the dances… Sure, we learn about foreign cultures in school, but by immersion, we truly deepen our understanding. Furthermore, travel is an internal journey, teaching us how we fit into this complex, beautiful world.
Nevertheless, as someone working in academia, working with schools around the world, I will never undermine the value of a formal education. So in response to Mohamed, I share with the world my own personal travel mantra, at the top of this post.