How Study Abroad Changed Jamin Ochoa’s Confidence and Career Plans

Can Study Abroad Change You?

Judy Oskam 0:03

Can study abroad really change your life? Well, in the summer of 2025, I interviewed Texas State student Jamin Ochoa while we were studying abroad in Scotland. He told me the experience was making him more confident and independent. I'm Judy Oskam, and welcome to Stories of Change, Helping You Navigate What's Next. I recently ran into Jamin on campus and I wanted to catch up. More than a year later, did that confidence last? Did the experience change how he sees his future? Well, and what can we all learn about stepping outside our comfort zone? Welcome, Jamin. Thanks for joining me today.

Jamin Ochoa 0:43

Of course. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be back.

Judy Oskam 0:46

Well, I'm excited to have you back, and I'm excited to ask you the big question. How have you changed? What happened?

Jamin Ochoa 0:54

That is such a loaded question.

Judy Oskam 0:55

I know

Confidence, Independence, Senior Slump

Judy Oskam 0:56

it's so big, right?

Jamin Ochoa 0:57

I think a lot of the stuff that I mentioned while I was in Edinburgh with you and we interviewed back then has still remains true. I know I talked a lot about gaining my confidence and trying new things, and I talked a lot about maybe trying new clothes, you know, just pushing my comfort zone in a lot of personal ways. Um, and that's kind of followed me now still to this day, which I think is really cool. But I think something that's really changed my life is that my profession right now is that I'm a student, right? That's kind of everything I'm doing. All my effort is going towards that. And I think I didn't realize that in the profession, whenever you feel stagnant, the best thing to do is to step out of your comfort zone and to try new things. And I think study abroad has helped me realize that because I'm a senior. We all know the senior slump, the senioritis that comes with it all. And I think what I've realized the best thing for me to do is just to try something new, to give me that new life, the new energy back. Um, but yeah, I would say that's the big change that's happened is that I just kind of understood more about myself. Um I'm still independent, I'm still more confident, but I also think I'm more introspective in a lot of different ways.

Trading Familiar Roles For Student Government

Judy Oskam 2:09

So give me an example of how you kind of took what you learned and took action and did something out of your comfort zone since you since 2025.

Jamin Ochoa 2:20

Yeah, I mean, when I was studying abroad, I definitely had this kind of idea in my head, this sort of plan. Um, I had kind of everything laid out for what I thought was going to happen and what I wanted to do. And then after I studied abroad, I kind of realized that the world is so much bigger than I thought it was, and that maybe I didn't really know the answer to everything that I thought I knew the answer to. And so when I came back from study abroad, I had previously been working on Cat Camp, which is like a spirit introduction camp for incoming freshmen. And I really loved it. But and I basically was invited to come back and do it again for the next year. But part of me felt a little too comfortable in that role. It felt a little too normal. And I was like, I think I need something new. I think I'm at a point where I need to try something new. So then I actually joined student government and was their chief of staff for the year of 2025. Um, and that was a big change for me. I had no knowledge about student government, I had even no interest before that, but it just kind of fell in my lap and I was like, I might as well do it, might as well try something new. And that led to a whole plethora of opportunities and friendships and just great memories that I would have never done, I don't think, if I studied abroad.

Judy Oskam 3:31

Well,

Breaking The Bubble After Scotland

Judy Oskam 3:32

I I I think I saw such potential in you, and I do still see a lot of potential in you. And what did then well did that make it easier for you to take those chances? And what was your thought process when you applied to some of those new roles?

Jamin Ochoa 3:49

I think for me it made it easier because we get in such a bubble, we get in such an echo chamber in our lives, um, where something that feels foreign, and that's not it's meant to be a pun, but something that feels foreign feels out of reach. And just because it's different means it's not possible. And I think before studying abroad, I definitely was really stuck in that bubble. But I think while you while I was overseas, I got to see so many things that really changed my mindset. I mean, just the culture being that drastically different, um, even the weather, it just was like I really was plucked out of a Texas and put in a whole new planet. And so I think that concept of realizing that something foreign isn't impossible and something different is okay to try, made it a lot easier for me to maybe try new things. Um, and my thought process behind it all was that I kind of felt like I was constantly chasing that high. The there's a sort of high in joy that happens when you study abroad that it's kind of hard to achieve again, uh, and to unless you are constantly pushing your limits, constantly pushing your comfort zone. And I think that was my thought process of like obviously right now, going back overseas while I'm a student during the middle of the semester is probably not plausible. Um, but the best way to get as close as I can to that is just to try new things here, to take a bit of what I learned of experiencing new cultures, having new experiences in general, and doing that on my home base.

Judy Oskam 5:22

Yeah, and and we talked about that a little bit about how do you then use your use where you are and it go down the street to a new place that you've never been or a new town or somewhere else in central Texas that's nearby campus, and you've kind of likened it to involvement at the university.

Designing A Life Around New Places

Judy Oskam 5:43

Um, where do you think that's gonna take you next? What's your plan next? Because are if you're constantly sort of evolving and chasing that, not that you're chasing a high, but kind of like the rush of it all. The rush of it all. And I think there is a rush, and we all love that what's next concept. But what are you thinking of doing next?

Jamin Ochoa 6:05

I think that's such a question that everybody's asking, you know, when I'm about to graduate. So I'm like, I think I I planned originally to kind of follow a traditional route of working at an advertising agency, kind of just getting my foot in the door anywhere I could, probably and saving money, staying at home. But ever since I studied abroad, it's like I can't stop thinking about the the concept of being in a new place, being a stranger, in a way of being quote unquote invisible in a city that's kind of larger than yourself. And I think for me, the goal now is not necessarily the job title but the location. I just want to be trying to move as many places as possible. I might want to work three years in Canada and three years in the UK again, maybe try France for a while. I think I just really want to push myself to experience as much as many corners of the world as I can. And I think it's even opened my eyes the types of professions that can exist. After I studied abroad, I saw a course called international advertising, and I was like, whoa, that'd be really interesting to look at. So I think last it opened my eyes even more to the different types of advertising that can happen. And then obviously I want to focus. I talked to you a lot about it, strategy work and you know, kind of the research and insights behind advertising. I think sometimes it's easier, especially within strategy. We get this we follow our instinct and our gut sometimes a little too much, right? Because we think we know all the answers because of our experiences. But when you travel, you can't base your life off your experience. You have to base it off the environment surrounding you because you aren't necessarily the going through the same things that other people are, right? The experience of a Texas-born student is not gonna be the same thing as somebody born in Europe or Asia. It's gonna be a complete different experience. And I think now that I've traveled and I've I'm able to under understand and be maybe more empathetic to other people's experiences because of study abroad. I think now I have this sort of advantage when I do end up working overseas to have better insights when it comes to that.

Calmer Choices After Imposter Syndrome

Judy Oskam 8:05

Well, I think you can really kind of uh explain that during job interviews and when you're meeting with professionals and and you know the hiring team. I think explaining that is really important. Um, did your friends and family notice a difference when you came back?

Jamin Ochoa 8:23

I would say so, yeah. I think a lot of, I think it's easier for my friends because I don't live at home anymore, but my friends noticed that I think was a bit more sure in my decisions. I think there was a sort of imposter syndrome that was happening before I studied abroad. There was a sort of like the compass was constantly spinning and I didn't know what was really happening. And I think when I came back, I was just a lot more calm in a way. I think I understood necessarily what was gonna happen, what was right for me. It's like I kind of found something to chase. And I think that's I think everybody needs to have a goal like that, right? They need to have something that's motivated them to keep doing what they're doing. Um I think obviously, even touching back to what we talked about the last time, I my friends noticed that I was trying new things more often. I was, you know, pushing myself to the limits that I maybe didn't know I had beforehand. But yeah, there is there is definitely a notice of change.

Judy Oskam 9:18

Yeah, yeah.

How To Actually Leave Comfort Zones

Judy Oskam 9:19

Well, and I think what would you tell someone who's thinking of trying to get out of their comfort zone, whether it's local, international, you don't have to travel the world to do that.

Jamin Ochoa 9:30

I think if you already have this urge to want to get out of your comfort zone, you're already four steps ahead of everybody else. I think the first thing to realize is that you need to be trying something new, you need to be changing um to push yourself. And I so I think the best advice everybody says just do it. Um and so to avoid, you know, following that same sort of template, I think if you're gonna do it, do it right. I think a lot of people go out of the comfort zone, but then don't really go out of the comfort zone. Like you can still be in your comfort zone even if you're in another state. You can still be in your comfort zone even if you're in another city. You really have to immerse yourself in whatever you're doing. I always say I give 110% to everything I do, and it's gonna be the same thing if you want to get out of your bubble, right? You can't you can't have one foot in Texas and one foot in another state, or one foot in one experience and another foot in another. You really need to give yourself your all and really try to just be. And I I think that's kind of challenging for us to do, especially in this day and age, we're kind of always pulled in different directions. Um but yeah, I think if you're gonna really if you really want to get out of your comfort zone, you have to do it with full energy and full effort because your comfort zone is stubborn and your boundaries are gonna fight back, and so it's really easy to fall back into the routine you're used to, but that's no fun. So I think it I think you really need to try your hardest.

Judy Oskam 10:56

And fully commit, fully commit, is what you're talking about. Yeah, I like your idea about uh looking for opportunities and jobs by geographic region and by by that's just a different way to approach it, and in a way, it helps you target your search, and so that that's just another way to think about if you fully target a particular area, your goal is to just get a job in that community or that city and then go from there, right?

Freedom, Consequences, And Rocky Waters

Jamin Ochoa 11:29

Yeah, and I think that's what's even more exciting about it all is that I just had written a speech about this, but there's this concept that people when they set a plan for themselves, they feel like it's an obligation to achieve every goal they ever set. And I think that's so limited in so many ways. I think if we follow the goals we set at five years old, I mean, great, I'm sure you're gonna have some sort of self-fulfillment, but I also think you're missing out on so many opportunities that you might not have taken. And I think by not necessarily having all the parameters of a profession laid out when you are job searching, I think that gives you the freedom to maybe try new things, to try different industries, to try try different jobs and skills that it's gonna push your brain and you to grow even more than if you just follow the traditional path. And I don't think there's anything wrong with the traditional path, but not everybody's built for it. And so I think for those who maybe don't know what they want to do, or who maybe have an I have an inkling of what they want to do, but they're not necessarily dead set on it. I think a great way to push yourself and still get obviously money and then obviously a new experience is to find a place that you want to move to, find a city, get away from your bubble, get away from the place that you call home, and then find a new home. And I think it's gonna build so much of your character and who you are, it's gonna build so much of who you are and who you're gonna become. And then you can always change it up again in five years. It doesn't have to be a dead set thing. If you don't end up loving the city, you move. And I think that's the beauty of it all.

Judy Oskam 13:00

Well, is it freeing and yet pressure to think that you're really the captain of your own ship? Is it kind of both?

Jamin Ochoa 13:09

I I think in a way I I think it's kind of both. I think obviously it's freeing because nobody can tell you no, right? Like the answer is always yes, and you can just say yes to everything that comes your way, and you can try new things. But also when the choice is in your hands, so are the consequences. And I think it's it's it can be really daunting to make a decision in your own right and then it not go the way you thought. And there's no one to blame but yourself. But I think that's a learning moment for everybody that I think I'm even still learning how to navigate, and I'm sure I'm gonna be learning it for the rest of my life.

Judy Oskam 13:44

I am too, and I'm old, so I am too every day.

Jamin Ochoa 13:48

It's it's a lot of pressure because especially for people who are not maybe incredibly high achieving or they're perfectionists, or they're afraid of failure or rejection. I think when you are the captain of your own ship, there's a chance you're gonna hit an iceberg. Not to mention the Titanic, but there's a chance that you're gonna hit an iceberg, and that's okay. I think I think I think that's okay. I think I think it's okay to make a mistake and to learn from it and to try something new.

Judy Oskam 14:17

And the waters might be a little rocky, but you might make it to shore too.

Jamin Ochoa 14:22

Yeah, and sometimes it's more fun to swim in rocky waters. Sometimes it's boring. Still, water has bugs and diseases and everything, right? You need a current. You do need a current.

Judy Oskam 14:31

Yeah, I love that. I I love that. Well, Jamin, you are such a wise, uh joyful person and human being. I just am feel honored to kind of get to know you over the last couple of years, and it's been fun for me to watch you go from one place to another, and I can't wait to see what you do next. I can't wait.

Jamin Ochoa 14:54

Thank you, Judy. Thank you. That means a lot.

Judy Oskam 14:56

I can't wait. Thank you so much for spending a little time with us and sharing your perspective.

Jamin Ochoa 15:01

Of course, it was so much fun. I'll have to come back at another time.

Judy Oskam 15:04

That sounds good. That's make you a regular.

Jamin Ochoa 15:07

Yeah, every year on the same date.

Judy Oskam 15:08

Every year, every year sounds good.

Jamin Ochoa 15:10

All right.

Judy Oskam 15:10

The audience would love it.

Jamin Ochoa 15:12

Oh, thanks.

Judy Oskam 15:14

What I took from our conversation is that the next opportunity to grow might be right where you are. Jamin came home from Scotland and he kept trying things that were unfamiliar, including new roles on campus. Is there one thing you've been curious about but you haven't tried? Well, maybe there's a small step you could take forward. And you don't have to know where it leads, but it might be worth a shot. I'm Judy Oskam, and thanks for listening to Stories of Change, Helping You Navigate What's Next.