Study abroad worth the challenge, students say

In print | September 22, 2005

Emily Wistar ‘06 arrived in Nairobi, Kenya on Feb. 5. "It was hot as hell and sunny. It’s the dry season until mid March."

“When I first got there it was really fun. After I’d been there for a month it was really hard. Everything was just so radically different from what I was used to,” Wistar said. “Nairobi is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. You can’t go out after dark. I stood out. The cultural differences began to get to me in ways I didn’t think they were going to.”

That being said, Wistar was far from disappointed by her decision to study abroad. “It was tough. It was really valuable, though,” she said. “It’s just harder. You have to make a conscious effort to understand some cultural differences.”

Joseph Alberti ’06, who studied in Sienna, Italy, also faced challenges while immersed in Italian culture. “Instead of taking classes, I essentially went there, learned Italian and Italian sign language with the Institute for the Deaf. I was teaching deaf children how to read in Italian, using Italian sign language,” he said. “It was like learning two new languages at once.”

While in Italy, Alberti adjusted to an entirely different schedule. “There are some things I did there that I could never do here. Like for example, taking a siesta in the middle of the day, where I’m sitting in a hammock in my backyard. I had a brick of wine next to me, and the Tuscan sun shinning down on me. Now I’ve got humidity and a tiny room,” Alberti said.

Studying abroad and academic requirements

Studying abroad can be one of the toughest decisions a Swarthmore student makes, or it can be one of the easiest. Some students are forced to choose between completing the honors program or going abroad. Others, who have chosen their majors later than their sophomore year, must decide whether or not studying abroad is feasible when major requirements still need to be fulfilled. For another group of Swatties, spending a semester abroad was never a negotiable option.

Pam Davis ‘07 studied abroad with the Prague program in the Czech Republic as a sophomore. "I definitely wanted to go during the spring. I was feeling really frustrated last fall and I decided at the last minute. I didn’t want to take time off so I just decided to go. I’m really glad I did," she said.

“There’s nothing like living abroad. The simplest thing I could say is it broadens perspectives,” Vice President Maurice Eldridge ’61 said. “I think the educational values are deep and beyond the classroom.”

While the vast majority of students were enthusiastic about studying abroad, their experiences were as varied as the countries in which they studied.

Maki Sato ’06 studied abroad in London. As a double major in Sociology and Biology, Sato chose England because she thought she was likely to receive credit for all of her course work there.

“[The idea of studying abroad] was always in the back of my mind, but it was definitely something I had to think about. What do I want to do, do I want to stay here and be an honors major, or do I want to go abroad and be a course major?” Sato said.

“I was going for a change in scenery. I was really excited about seeing a new culture, being able to travel around the different European cultures. I didn’t really have that many expectations, I wanted to be open to anything new,” she said.

Because of the stringent requirements for engineering majors, students in the department often take engineering courses while they are abroad. But even for students whose study abroad programs are academically rigorous, these experiences tend to provide fresh insight to their area of study.

Tyler Strombom ‘06, who studied at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, took classes that he couldn’t have taken at Swarthmore.

“I enjoyed the University of Edinburgh because I was able to take courses in power engineering, which is what I want to get into after I graduate,” Strombom said. “The Swarthmore engineering department does not have the facilities to teach power engineering.”

Living situations

Students that study abroad can be split into two categories: those who live with host families and those who live in student housing. The experience that students have while abroad is radically affected by their housing situation.

Davis, along with the other 35 American students in her program, lived in a hotel. “Most of [the families willing to take in boarders] speak Czech. They speak some English but not a lot,” Davis said.

Collegium Hieronymi Pragensis (CHP), the program Davis went through for her study abroad experience, places students in dorms or hotels. “Hearing about other people’s experience abroad, I wish I’d stayed with a host family. I would have been more attuned to the culture,” Davis said.

“One obvious advantage [of living with a host family] is that it helps you learn the language. A lot of the time the students in the dorms are speaking amongst themselves, in their native language,” Alex Elkins ‘06, who studied in the French department’s Grenoble program last spring, said.

Although many students enjoyed living with a host family, the situation sometimes presents pitfalls that living in a dorm does not.

“One of the disadvantages is you’re dealing with a whole new family with their own standards,” Elkins said. “Some students were upset that they couldn’t return home whenever they wanted. They weren’t even given a key to the house. With mine, they wouldn’t let me eat a lot of food. They restricted my access to the refrigerator.”

On the other hand, Wistar depended on homestays for authentic African immersion. “I did homestays the whole time,” Wistar said. “It was probably the best part of the program. It gave me an in to the culture that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

Wistar spent part of her time in Kenya studying the management of sexual maturation in primary school girls.

“It was one of the most valuable parts of my time. I was away from the program. I had to set up my own homestay. I was learning about the culture on my own terms. The process was valuable even if the research wasn’t a publishable study,” Wistar said with a laugh.

Coming home

Antonio Delgado ’06 took classes at the University of Chile in Santiago, and he voiced mixed feelings on returning to Swarthmore.

“Coming back, it’s different. It gives a new perspective to Swarthmore,” Delgado said. “It’s hard being back because I was in a big city, but at the same time, I’m able to appreciate the small things about Swarthmore better. Like the small classes, the availability of the campus, and the close environment between the students. There you’re just another person in a city. Here you’re part of a student body.”

Alberti was less conflicted. “If you were asking me, do I want to go back there?, I’d say ‘give me my plane ticket and I’ll go right now.’ It was a completely different life style, being abroad. Once you adjust to it, it’s so nice. While Swarthmore is beautiful, Italy is so much more beautiful,” Alberti said.

“Everyone should go abroad. Just go. Get away from here and go. It’ll be the best time of your life,” Alberti said.

Additional reporting by Ian Yarett