News

Gain Perspective By Studying Abroad

“Study abroad remains popular post-Sept. 11.” What a ridiculous headline. Why on earth should study abroad become less popular in the wake of a tragedy that killed a few thousand New Yorkers and Washingtonians sitting in their offices and a few hundred airline passengers? First of all, the events shattered the illusion that life is safer in the United States than it is abroad. Of course, the chances of being a victim of terrorism virtually anywhere in the world are still far less than the chances of being run over on Commonwealth Avenue. Second, and more importantly, the events of Sept. 11 revealed how great the divide is between the United States and the rest of the world, especially developing countries. The only way to gain the perspective of an outsider looking in — indeed, to understand that multiple perspectives are possible — is to spend enough time living in another country for its ways to start to seem normal.

I advise all of my students to study abroad, and after graduation, to seek an opportunity to live and travel abroad, even at the short-term expense of their careers. I remember my own study abroad semester in Florence as the highlight of my college years. A few weeks before we arrived in Italy in January 1986, terrorists had bombed the El Al ticket counters in the Rome and Vienna airports. During the semester, the United States launched F-16s and cruise missiles on targets in Libya, and there were fears of reprisals against Americans living in Europe, especially in disorganized countries close to North Africa (e.g., Italy). The value of the dollar dropped over 20 percent compared to every European currency. The nuclear plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, melted down, sending a radioactive cloud over much of the continent. That spring, there was every reason to stay in the relative safety of the United States, and many did, in fact, choose to do so. The rest of us printed T-shirts reading, “We Survived Italy, Primvera 1986.” The only one seriously hurt was my own roommate after he crashed our moped into a taxi while running red lights to catch a train to Carnivale in Venice.

I hope the events of Sept. 11 result in more, not fewer, Boston University students choosing to study abroad. It would be a true shame if the results of that day were for us to build a wall around our country, to stand united only with people holding proof of U.S. citizenship and to fear exploring the semi-unknown, where the central heating is far worse but the cell phone coverage is generally better. That would be the greater tragedy.

Website | More Articles

This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.

Comments are closed.