Photo Credit: We known all about Dreams, 2015.
Coming "Home"
Third culture kids, T.C.K.s, are children and teens who spent most or all of their formative years in a culture different from that of their parents. Specifically, many T.C.K.s from the U.S. spend their childhood in entirely different continents and cultures, such as South America and Asia. Many of these U.S. T.C.K.s who are abroad for their high school years chose to come back to the U.S. for college. According to one study 95% of American high school students who graduate abroad decide to return for their college educations. (Gaw) In 2000 it was estimated that 37,000 TCKs went back to their homes for college that year and because of globalization that number goes up almost every year. (Choi, Bernard, and Luke)These students’ re-entry to their ‘home’ can cause a lot more problems than simply moving to a new country. This is because people who are returning to a home country tend to have different expectations based off of experiences before they moved or accounts from friends, family, and media. These expectations can negatively impact re-entry as returning citizens tend to be harsher on their home country than anywhere else after being overseas for many years. (Gaw) American T.C.K.s, upon their return to the U.S. for college, are caught in between coming home and experiencing a new culture entirely after living abroad for most of their lives. This can be negative especially on top of the typical adjustments to college living, which can lead to these students feeling out of place. (Gaw)
Neither NorAmerican T.C.K.s are the “hidden immigrants” of the U.S. because they have an American passport and typically don't stand out but they still carry a multitude of experiences that the average American does not have. (Thurston-Gonzalez) These students are not fully made up of their parents’ culture or their international culture where they spent their childhood, but instead they find themselves dangling somewhere in between. (Pollock and Van Reken ) This divide between T.C.K.s, American students, and international students can cause U.S. T.C.K.s to feel the need to change their style, behavior, and speech patterns to fit in more with American students. (Gaw) Especially with these students returning for college this incessant need to change themselves can affect their mental state. College students who are also experiencing reverse culture shock as they return home have a harder time adjusting to college than American students. This is because not only do they have to adjust to college and living on their own but they also have to adjust to a culture that is supposedly their home culture. (Thurston-Gonzalez)
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One study shows that U.S. T.C.K.s who return for college have a higher rate of depression and anxiety than U.S. students adjusting to college. (Gaw) These students, although typically more academically prepared for college (Thurston-Gonzalez), tend to be less prepared for the reverse culture shock they experience when returning to the U.S. for college. These students can feel alienated due to the loss of their host country’s culture (Thurston-Gonzalez) as well as the lack of understanding of their experiences from their peers in college. (Gaw) The scale of severity of these feelings of alienation is greatly varied and many U.S. T.C.K.s have very few problems adjusting to life after re-entry, it really depends on the person and their situation.
Forced ExtrovertMany T.C.K.s have many multicultural abilities and characteristics from their many years abroad, however, many of them have not developed a sense of belonging to any one country in particular and tend to feel as though they lack a specific home country or city.
(Choi, Bernard, and Luke) Often times the mental state of T.C.K.s after returning home is examined to tell us something about reverse culture shock and living internationally but not often are their friendships and types of friendships studied to gain more insight into their situation. One study looked into the different types of friendships that college female T.C.K.s usually held and found that 40% of the observed friendships fell under the functionally connected category. This means that the T.C.K.s see their closest friends as a resource in that their friends are independent, ambitious, and offer intellectual stimulation but the friendship is not a close and emotional bond. The second largest group, at 27%, were the T.C.K.s who's closest friends were connected to them socially meaning they see their friends as more of a playfellow and their friends are approachable and outgoing. This type of friendship offered the female a lot of social activity without a strong emotional connection, once again. The emotionally connected category for T.C.K.s was the smallest group, besides the 'other' category, at 20%. (Choi, Bernard, and Luke) This study shows a trend in which T.C.K.s tend not to look for close emotional bonds to people as they are used to moving around and essentially being 'forced extroverts' as they are used to making and losing friends every few years. The fact that T.C.K.s find it difficult to find friends who understand their situation (Thurston-Gonzalez) supports the hypothesis that they tend to have more emotionally closed off relationships as they are accustomed to keeping to themselves. |
Sources:
Choi, Kyoung Mi, Bernard, Janine M. , and Luke, Melissa . "Characteristics of Friends of Female College Third Culture Kids." Asia Pacific Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy 4.2 (2013): 125-36. Web.
Fail, H. "Belonging, Identity and Third Culture Kids: Life Histories of Former International School Students." Journal of Research in International Education 3.3 (2004): 319-38. Web.
Gaw, Kevin F. "Reverse Culture Shock in Students Returning from Overseas." American Psychological Association, 1995.
Pollock, David C., and Van Reken, Ruth E. Third Culture Kids: Growing up among Worlds. Boston: Nicholas Brealey Pub., 2009. Print.
Thurston-Gonzalez, Sara J. "A qualitative investigation of the college choice experiences and reentry expectations of U.S. American third culture kids." Loyal University Chicago, 2009.
Choi, Kyoung Mi, Bernard, Janine M. , and Luke, Melissa . "Characteristics of Friends of Female College Third Culture Kids." Asia Pacific Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy 4.2 (2013): 125-36. Web.
Fail, H. "Belonging, Identity and Third Culture Kids: Life Histories of Former International School Students." Journal of Research in International Education 3.3 (2004): 319-38. Web.
Gaw, Kevin F. "Reverse Culture Shock in Students Returning from Overseas." American Psychological Association, 1995.
Pollock, David C., and Van Reken, Ruth E. Third Culture Kids: Growing up among Worlds. Boston: Nicholas Brealey Pub., 2009. Print.
Thurston-Gonzalez, Sara J. "A qualitative investigation of the college choice experiences and reentry expectations of U.S. American third culture kids." Loyal University Chicago, 2009.