If you asked Cody Batchelor, an English teacher in China, a year ago what he planned to do after graduating from college, he would have said his first choice was law school.

But the American has never regretted choosing his plan B to spend a year abroad, expanding his horizons, and pursuing his lifelong goal of becoming fluent in a foreign language.

"American students think that by bolstering their background with Chinese language experiences or work experience in China, they will give themselves an edge in competitive job markets back home - or even internationally," he says. "I used this reasoning to justify taking Mandarin courses at my university."