Do American students still study abroad?

A foreign exchange student gets the opportunity to live in a strange place and learn about a completely different culture. Some foreign exchange students have to speak a foreign language and adapt to a new education system; they make friends they would have never known otherwise and experience a completely new way of life. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer American students have been choosing to study abroad.

For many who do decide to study abroad, the experience is unforgettable. When he was in college, Spanish teacher Ben Ho spent a semester studying in Mexico and a year in Spain. He said, “The experience was really eye opening. It was hard to adjust to the new schedule. You learn a lot about yourself outside of your comfort zone.” According to Ho, the education system is more difficult. He said, “They don’t hold your hand or walk you through activities.”

Even with these added difficulties, studying in a foreign country did not hurt his schooling, and by traveling to other countries, Ho was able to live in a whole new culture.

This past summer, junior Laurel Machak said, “I enjoyed the totally different experience of traveling to [Nicaragua].” She spent much of the summer in Nicaragua with the Amigos program. Amigos is an organization that sends students to different Spanish speaking countries to live in and help a community. Laurel commented, “My time in Nicaragua was really good work experience with a lot of independence and a great way to practice Spanish.”

With all these benefits to being an exchange student, why don’t more Americans participate in the program? The total number of American high school students sent on a long-term exchange was 1,980 in 2009 to 2010. In contrast, 28,142 international exchange students came to America.
Surprisingly, in this time period, costs of traveling internationally have not dramatically increased. Cell phone and lap top technologies have improved, making it easier to stay connected to the people being left behind at home.

In other countries, especially among the European Union, it is still common to study abroad, and the amount of foreign exchange students sent to America from 2003 to 2011 have stayed pretty much the same.

And as senior Sharon Borden proves, not knowing the language is not a reason to stay at home. Borden hosted an exchange student from Japan, and she decided to travel there this coming July despite not speaking Japanese.

Here in America, the competitiveness of getting into the best colleges is a big reason to stay at home instead of studying abroad. Students are afraid that by missing a semester of high school to travel to another country, they will not get credit for classes. Most high schools do not count the time spent abroad as credits for graduating.

Junior Max Herrera has been very involved in the exchange student process. His brother spent time living with a family in Spain two summers ago, and the Herrera’s housed an exchange student this past summer. Max said, “[it was a] great way to experience other cultures, and to see what life’s like for teenagers in other countries.”

However, even after seeing all the benefits of being an exchange student, Max still does not want to miss time in high school to go abroad, because he wants to focus on school and friends and to concentrate on getting into a good college. But he would love to study abroad in college.

According to Aragon’s college and career counselor Laurie Tezak, “Colleges like exchange students, if they satisfy course requirements abroad.” So fears of being hurt by leaving school to go abroad are unfounded, as long as the student works with the program to make sure course requirements are satisfied. Still, high school is the time to hang out with friends, play sports, and enjoy the social life. It is a lot to give up to study abroad.