Preparing to study abroad requires knowing what might go wrong during and after the trip

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FILE - Sign boards of various educational consultants that attract youth to study abroad cover the faade of a building in Kochi, Kerala state, India, March 7, 2023. (AP Photo/ R S Iyer, File)

After spending two college semesters in northern Thailand, Sarah Jongsma found herself back home in the rural Nevada town where she grew up, surrounded by everything familiar yet feeling strangely out of place.

“It caught me off guard,” she said. “I didn't know what was going on.”

Only later, after a summer studying in India and while preparing to go to France for another semester abroad, did Jongsma understand what she had been feeling: reverse culture shock.

The 22-year-old's experience shows that studying abroad can be challeng