I believe that most students could

I believe that most students could use a heavy dose of cultural immersion abroad. What I learned from 18 years of living in the United Kingdom is the invaluable appreciation of another culture and another way of life. I am not here to debate whether studying abroad is a good experience, I think it is not only a good one, but a necessary one. What I have to ask, however, is why our school — which says it has a student body so enamored with Princeton life that less that 50 students would choose to leave each year during the last decade — has suddenly seen a burgeoning desire to explore academic programs across the world. What has happened? Why has a four-year, eight-semester stint at Princeton lost the captivating sense of eternal possibility that once kept students firmly planted in New Jersey?

In the last year, Princeton has completely revitalized the study aboard department; I think it would be fair to say that our administrators have essentially built one. Our study abroad program, headed by Dean Nancy Kanach, has rapidly developed over the past 10 years, and has seen student participation grow from less than 50 to over 100. Study abroad is now being labeled as the next step in Princeton’s already polished academic curriculum. Over the summer I took part in the Princeton in Italy program, a month long course in a small town deep in the hills of the Adriatic coast. The program was not only fun but also allowed me to learn the language in its native country and immerse myself in all aspects of Italian culture. The program was well run, incredibly fun, and was even taught by a Princeton professor. The greatest thing for me about the program was that not only did I get this tremendous cultural immersion but I got to do it without missing any opportunities that a semester at Princeton has to offer.

I remember attending a daunting Dean Hargadon question and answer session as a forlorn junior in high school. The question was posed as to whether or not, a significant number of students go abroad. He answered with a resounding "no", saying simply that students enjoy being at Princeton and have no desire to leave. The chance to study at Oxford or in Australia has always been available to students, but why is it only recently that they are choosing to leave? Has there arisen a genuine disenchantment with Princeton life amidst the student body, or have the prospects of leaning from a foreign country just magically appeared on our radars? Do four years at Princeton not command the same binding allegiance that they once did, or has there emerged a new generation of world travelers desperate to soak up foreign cultures?

As I hear many of my friends excitedly talk about their approaching stay in a foreign country I am still left pondering why a semester in Princeton does not hold the same anticipation as one in a foreign country. Granted a semester in Milan or Sydney does leave the Jersey winter far in its wake, but I still feel there is something genuinely wrong if a semester at Princeton is not compelling enough to keep our suitcases gathering dust under our beds. Princeton should carry that same unrivaled excitement and possibility that can be found in foreign countries. Have students at Princeton become so jaded that our unrivaled faculty and world class departments are not persuasive enough to keep students on campus?

As a veteran of 18 years in a foreign country, study abroad would have never come into my head. The domino effect of having many of my close friends rabidly pursuing a semester abroad has raised question in my mind about whether I really could learn more and have more fun studying Italian in Rome, or history at Oxford. Thankfully with a stiff cup of coffee and a packed Wednesday of classes the exotic lure begins to fade, logic triumphs; my reasons for staying suddenly become so blatant and unavoidable. Next semester for example, I hope to take a civil war class with arguably the world’s expert in the field. Italy will always be there, a class with James McPherson won’t.

But maybe this isn’t a good enough reason. Maybe a great teacher and a great class aren’t enough; there needs to be something more compelling for students to want to stay. There needs to be something greater, more powerful and more binding than academics; when people choose to go abroad there needs to be a feeling of sacrifice, that there really is something you are giving up.