Niñez y adolescencia

As the participants described their realisations, they also described an associated change in the understanding of their capabilities. Often perceptions of change (expressed as realisations) and the resulting extension of capabilities were intertwined. This makes sense, given that meanings made from experiences are about perceptions of positive life changes (Park 2010). This section of the chapter explores the capabilities that participants recognised as having been extended by their significant experiences.

In the work described in this thesis, participants described the new or different understandings (realisations) about themselves and the world around them that shaped their perceptions of an extension of a range of capabilities. Analysis of capability-extended statements led the researcher to categorise this expression of personal impact in three ways:

• Increased capability to interact with people

• Enhanced independence, self-confidence, or resilience • Improvement in workplace or study capability

Increased capability to interact with people

The participants described greater capacity to interact with people, which was shaped by their realisations about self-identity, others and the world. This increased capability was described as ‘adaptability’; they made quick friendships, managed personal relationships, interacted with diverse people and forged deeper connections with people through being more empathetic. Ariel, who felt that her international travel experiences made her recognise empathy in herself, perceived impact around her social justice approach:

I think for me it will just be continuing and furthering my own beliefs, and always fighting for equality, and never letting any kind of discrimination happen in front of me.

Similarly, Gretchen, who said she felt more open-minded after her experiences, described being reminded of “the importance of being kind to strangers”. She believed her future interactions would be shaped by understanding that “everybody has their own story”. Gretchen also described the impact of acculturation. She expressed being more comfortable interacting with people from Colombia. She said, “I feel like I did acculturate well and…even now, whenever I meet someone from Colombia, I can start having a conversation straight away and I feel very comfortable in it”. Laura described feeling more comfortable talking to new people and making friends and becoming more “sensitive to people in terms of where they’re from and what they do”. Charlie articulated personal impact around

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feeling more “aware and also respectful to how different people are from different backgrounds”. He felt he could interact with a wide group of people after his international study experience because he had developed “a better grasp of where the potential pitfalls might be” in inter-cultural discussions. Charlotte described having a deeper understanding of people with a different mindset to hers and how understanding this affects the ways she makes friends and deals with people. Olivia explained that, after recognising her privilege as a result of volunteering, she now stops before she speaks and tries to acknowledge the life circumstances of her conversational partner.

Lydia summed up the impact she felt from her challenging international study experiences in terms of enhanced empathy and tolerance. She felt this impact enhanced her ability to interact with people:

So much of how you interact with people is your own interpretation. When you go to a social interaction, both parties are taking their own understanding of the world. A lot of the time, when someone is appearing hostile or rude, they’re not trying to be whatsoever, they’re just operating from a different worldview, or they might be shy, or frightened and uncomfortable in some other way.

Enhanced independence, self-confidence, or resilience

Some participants described specific forms of capability extension, such as increased independence, self-confidence, self-worth, and resilience. Charlie felt he had developed a stronger sense of self- worth from making friends. This realisation, “I actually made a few friends while I was over there in Europe”, led to that change. Gretchen named ‘confidence’ as a significant experience and described herself as more secure and with greater self-worth as a result of her experiences and realisations of the enormity of what she had done. She felt that her experience “affirms my belief in myself and my confidence…now I’m a much more secure person”. Charlotte noted that “I felt like I grew up just a little bit. It definitely helped me to be more independent”. Laura said, “it’s made me a little bit more independent…I can’t think of living off my parents forever”. Lydia articulated impact as “being resilient, and also being able to be assertive when someone is being confrontational”.

Meredith explained personal impact around feeling more emotionally resilient and resourceful about her approach to new or challenging situations. She said:

I think it's really important to be able to do it by yourself at times. I think there's always going to be challenges that you have that you don't necessarily have other people around for, and having emotional resilience and resourcefulness are really important skills to help you conquer from those challenges. Doing this, I learned a lot about the way that I think, a lot about how I

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deal with things and cope with different problems. I think that's really important things to know about yourself for the future.

Improvement in workplace or study capability

Participants also described specific capability extensions that related to work and study skills. Charlie and Gretchen described this type of impact in terms of second language development. Gretchen also felt her second language capabilities had increased her confidence in job-searching because of the added dimension to her skill set. Harry felt his workplace capabilities were enhanced by the new knowledge and skills he gained from studying subjects not available at home.

Meredith and Ariel enhanced their clinical practice with specific skill development from their nursing placement activities. Ariel explained that “I do full-body assessments on my patients, which is something I didn’t do before”. Charlotte acknowledged that she made mistakes while on her internship and noted her resultant improved understanding of workplace practices. For Laura, Charlie and Harry, increased capability also related to study skills, such as confidence to tackle difficult assessment tasks. Harry said, “It encouraged me to…direct my learning a lot more. It made me less reliant on lectures and tutors”. This capability development often came from recognition of different ways of doing things or of realisations of how things work differently in other countries.