As with most important decisions, the choice to study abroad is accompanied by an avalanche of advice, both solicited and otherwise. Everyone is eager to share their personal experiences in Argentina or defend their decision to stay behind and take that biochemistry class that they needed. The truth is, however, that every person has his or her own set of goals and frustrations that ought to shape this decision. For some students, the chance to study at a foreign university and live in a new place presents a great opportunity, but students should make sure their reasons for going are actually best served by a semester abroad.

One of the few absolute statements that can be made on the subject is that travel can be an important component of a liberal arts education. Those students who have traveled little, if at all, outside of the United States should look for ways to do so while they are still in college. It really is true that travel gives you a sense of the wider world and of yourself that you will not be able to get by sitting at home reading books, no matter how thorough the descriptions. For students that have had their fill of the Amherst scene, at least for the time being, spending a semester, or even a year, abroad may be a good way to broaden their horizons.

However, there are a lot of good reasons to stay on the Amherst campus during the entire school year. One of the most helpful comments about study abroad that I ever heard was a reminder that most people only get eight semesters at the College, so there is value in taking advantage of the high-quality academics. Even hard-working students who loved the time they spent abroad generally acknowledge that they did very little serious schoolwork while abroad. Of course, there are some excellent universities that offer a rigorous experience, but this is not the norm. If the value is not found in the schoolwork, then it makes sense to look for a different kind of travel opportunity.

The fact of the matter is, if you want to go abroad to live in another culture and have adventures, study abroad is not the only, or the best, way to do so. Use your summers wisely. Planning to get a job, volunteer, or intern? Think about searching for an opportunity abroad. You still get to practice your language skills and meet interesting people, but a much greater number of possible work environments are open to you. Work in an office in Paris, teach English in India, or do conservation work in South America. Go back and take a look at all those e-mails from the Career Center and the Center for Community Engagement. If you take the time to investigate, there are a lot of resources out there, including financial ones.

There are, of course, perfectly valid reasons to avoid two straight semesters at a small school in western Massachusetts. As a Californian, I know what it is like to look out a window and wonder what on Earth I am doing in a region that actually drops below freezing more than a couple of times per year. So for those hoping to avoid the biting cold and sludge by spending spring semester abroad, all power to you. If you are feeling pent up in a small school and looking to be anonymous for a little while, then a trip abroad might be a good cure. Just do not tell me that study abroad is the only cure for boredom.

There are plenty of ways that you shake up a college experience that has become monotonous. Take a class way outside your comfort zone, or change your extracurricular activities. Friends who have decided to “study abroad at home” have found that new challenges and new groups of people can revitalize the Amherst experience. Just because you have not yet tried singing, dancing, issue advocacy, or writing for The Student, does not mean you cannot start to branch out now.

If you are trying to make decisions about study abroad, make sure you are actually considering all of your options. After all, we only get so much time before we get kicked out of the Amherst bubble and are told to get real lives.