Study abroad advisor William Hoffa certainly thinks that studying abroad is an integral part of college. In the Dec. 1 article entitled "Record number of students to go abroad in the spring," Hoffa says, "I am quite convinced that students who have not had some kind of international experience during their undergraduate years will not be fully educated." In one respect, I agree with Hoffa's statement. The world is becoming an increasingly globalized place, and countries are becoming more interconnected than ever before. Thus, as future leaders of the U.S., we can't function in society without having an appreciation for other nations and other cultures.
Studying abroad during the academic year, though, is not the only way to achieve an understanding of other nations. There are programs over the summer and Interterm that allow you to study in other countries, and there are many fellowships available for continued study after graduation. If you have an intense desire to be immersed in another culture for a prolonged period of time and can't obtain financial aid for some of these other programs, then I don't begrudge you the opportunity to study abroad. Often, however, studying abroad is a time for partying and taking an easier academic semester or year.
Studying in Australia is a particularly suspect choice. The Aussies are known for their drinking and partying, and as another former colony of Britain, I can hardly imagine that their lifestyle and culture is so unique that it is necessary to remain in the country an entire semester as opposed to a shorter visit. Is studying abroad really a "can't miss opportunity" if you spend most of your time drinking, partying and shopping?
Besides the sometimes questionable academics that occur abroad, there are other good reasons to remain at Amherst. You are only given four years of college. For those of you who have any illusions that graduate school is the same as Amherst, you're dead wrong. Once you're out of the College, you're in the real world, and it's a tough place to be.
Let's examine, though, how much time we're actually allotted in these four years. First semester of freshman year is, for the most part, a transitional time as students adapt to college life, both academically and socially. Second semester senior year is also a difficult time because many seniors are consumed with theses and applying for jobs or graduate school. Essentially, then, we have six semesters to really enjoy college. If you go abroad for a semester or a year, you now only have four or five semesters to live in a protected environment where the worst thing that can happen is for the administration to request that you leave for a semester.
In general, junior year is a particularly inopportune time to be absent from college life. As a junior, you are intimately familiar with the Amherst experience and you can have a real impact on changing the College for the better. You can run organizations, you can raise awareness about social issues and you can attempt to challenge the administration's decisions.
Junior year is also a time of tremendous growth, both academic and social. By the time you're a junior, you've declared your major and are intensely focused on one area of study. You start to think about your future, and you begin to differentiate between your casual friends and your life-long ones. While students may not complain about their time abroad, I have known some to complain about the difficulty of returning to Amherst after spending a whole year abroad. You change, your friends change and life at the fairest college is just not the same.
Life is what you make of it, and college life can be fulfilling without going abroad. Going abroad isn't the only way to escape the Amherst bubble. You can become involved in activities in the greater Pioneer Valley and take part in learning outside the classroom. Go see your professors during office hours for pure intellectual curiosity. Attend lectures. Play sports. Act in plays. Sing in musical groups or get involved in clubs. College is about discovering who you are, and you can't do that by sitting around drinking all the time, but you can do it by staying here and exploring all that Amherst has to offer.
Sidman can be reached at mrsidman@amherst.edu