Was it worth it?

As everyone comes back from breaks, the usual question-and-reply routine (“How was your break?” “Good, too short”) begins, but after winter break, one question, specifically geared towards the hundreds of students who have returned from a fall semester abroad, is also asked: “Where did you go?”

The study abroad experience has become a de facto component of the much lionized “college experience” and, indeed, a small majority of Duke students study abroad at some point in their Duke careers. Given its status among Duke undergraduates as a routine, if not expected, undertaking, the question of whether studying abroad was justified is rarely asked. In asking whether studying abroad is worth the tradeoffs it imposes, we should ask ourselves what students and the Duke community at large stand to gain from sending its students to other countries for a semester or more of study.

Studying abroad carries significant costs. Returning juniors who left en masse during the Fall often have trouble finding housing. Those who study abroad must also forgo any leadership role they might have had on campus for that year, while students who decide to stay at Duke their junior year often complain that the sudden departure of hundreds of their peers negatively impacts student life and culture on campus.

Does the study abroad experience make up for these hindrances? There are a plurality of good reasons to go abroad, and we identify at least three, if not more, overlapping justifications. The first is to study at a unique academic institution, such as Oxford University, that offers an educational experience that cannot be found elsewhere. Study abroad can also be incredibly effective for cultural immersion. Finally, study abroad can greatly aid language acquisition.

In Fall 2012, the top three Duke study abroad destinations were Italy (116 students), Spain (102 students) and the United Kingdom (81 students). Study abroad was heavily concentrated in western Europe, while Asian countries do not even make the Duke top 10 locations. While legitimate reasons certainly exist for studying abroad in Europe surrounded by one’s fellow Duke students, more often than not, real emotional, mental and intellectual growth comes from adapting on one’s own in a foreign environment. Given the tangible tradeoffs that come with study abroad, Duke’s students and the University itself should make sure study abroad does not effectively become a credited leave of absence.

To this end, Duke should implement the homestay model more extensively among its programs, especially in its most popular programs where Duke students often live in a complex filled with American students like themselves. This encourages individual independence, cultural immersion and language acquisition. Students themselves can try to spend their recreational time with as many non-American or local peers as possible, perhaps by becoming involved in an extracurricular activity at their study abroad campus. Finally, by becoming more acquainted with one’s local surroundings rather than eurotripping in some debauched version of the grand tour, those who study abroad can more easily gain a real sense of their new home. Instead of “Where did you go?” we can begin asking each other, “Was the experience worth it?”