This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Bucknell chapter.
Spending a semester studying abroad is a very popular experience for Bucknell students. The idea of leaving Lewisburg for five months to travel the world is enticing. And while the fantasy of taking a cooking class in Italy or the excitement of going sky diving in the Alps have you itching to hop on a plane immediately, making the ultimate decision to spend an entire semester away from, quite simply, comfort may not be all head-rush, breath-taking pro that is bungee jumping near Capetown. So in an all-too-familiar decision making manner, let’s visit a pro and con list for going abroad.
Pros:
- Culture is far more than dancing to a new Avicii remix played downtown on a Saturday night. Going abroad means experiencing true—yet different—culture. From pasta creations unbeknownst to our local Italian restaurants (or only one, considering it’s Lewisburg) to festivals like Corpus Christie in the streets of Granada, studying in a foreign land forces you to see, learn, and do…a new culture.
- Much like the old Girl Scout rhyme of “make new friends and keep the old,” studying abroad allows you the opportunity to travel with both old and new. Missing your Bucknell buddies? Jump on that RyanAir flight to Prague with none other than your new clique to check up on your old one.
- Hanging out in the courtyards of the lib has you yawning? We feel you. Meeting up with your school friends soon has a meaning of far more excitement: cities to explore, new food to dine on, and new parties to play at. Studying abroad definitely allows for a new scene outside the Bucknell Bubble.
- So. Much. Delicious. Food. Did we say so much and delicious yet? Let’s do it again. So. Much. Delicious. Food. #goodbyequionabar. (Oh, and let’s not forget about wine, beer, drinking age, wine, and beer).
- You might feel like it’s a cardboard box in the sky but if you get over that fright, flying budget airlines is all the rage. 20 Euro flight to Italy? Yes please!
- Let’s do this alphabetically: Alhambra, Berlin Wall, Coliseum…Studying abroad allows you to say goodbye to the past years of textbook education and truly see—and experience—such historical landmarks for yourself. And yes, they do really exist beyond Google Images.
- Mom’s not peering over your shoulders so get going…or jumping. You can do exhilarating—and perhaps parent-unapproved—activities like sky diving, bungee jumping, shark-cage diving, skiing…you name it, the decision is yours (with just a little bit of trip-planning effort).
- Been speaking Spanish since age eight but have yet to really use it on a daily basis? Studying abroad is a veritable “adios” to years of personal practice and a major “hola” to daily dialect. Don’t speak another language? Well by living in one you can really get set on learning one!
- And we won’t even get started on the separate pro-list of all the positive, independent growth that is an inevitable result of ditching the known and embracing the unknown that is studying abroad. But here are a couple of words you’ll get to know very well by studying abroad: maturation, personal education, confidence, independence, development …and the list goes one.
Cons:
- Vet study abroad-ers have said it a gamut of times before but we’ll repeat it again here. Bucknell really does go on without you. Saturday nights get crazy even without your elevated-dancing shenanigans. Classes you’ve been dying to take for years are given only that semester (Murphy’s Law). And seniors graduate without you necessarily clapping during the procession.
- The challenge of staying in contact with Bucknell friends proves more difficult than expected. You can’t just depend on a Bison at 6 pm run-in to catch up on your day, every day. You must make the time to text (moreover, Viber), FaceTime, anything other than rely on the fate of a small campus sighting.
- It feels as if your mom has been reminding you since day one not to compare yourself to others. Easily said than done in middle school….and again when going abroad. There is a huge difficulty in not comparing your experience with that of others. The effort to make your experience your own and realize you’re not going to be able to travel as many places, meet as many foreign boys, and have as many ridiculous clubbing adventures as your friends might have/are.
- Simply put, your BU ID does not have an international option. Our enemy with a capital M (in the middle): money. You need to learn to manage more than ever.
- And if you thought figuring your summer plans were difficult in the isolation that is Lewisburg, let’s talk about time differences when scheduling Skype and phone interviews. It’s quite possible that coveted intern position may go to the person on the other end of the phone call that does not cost an exorbitant amount.
- You experienced it your first year in the Burg, your first summer at camp, and every time finals comes around and you just want your bed: homesickness…for everything from your mom’s hugs to a bacon-egg-and-cheese that seems not to exist outside the country of red, white, and blue.
- “The transition back to Bucknell can be a weird one. Obviously I was ecstatic to get back, have fun, and catch up with everyone but it can get old going to the same two bars every weekend when last semester you were visiting a new country on a weekly basis!”—Margaret Hilton ‘15
- “If you go to a romance country (i.e. Spain) that does not really value work/force you to do a lot of academics, getting back into the Bucknell basics is really hard. Like I just remembered how to time manage again. It’s November. Having the summer off right after doesn’t help either”—Liz Bacharach ‘15
And in making YOUR decision, check out a these blogs and sites with respected #nofiltered Instagrams of abroad’s beauty: