You can read Emily's article here as it will be referenced throughout this article.
When I first saw the headline for this article, I honestly thought it was a joke; a satire of the responses people have had to the recent terrorist attacks (she only mentions Brussels as having recently been attacked when Lahore, Pakistan was also bombed just three days later — which, by the way, is not a major city that students study abroad in). However, as I began reading the article, I realized this was not the case. She was actually stating that students should not be allowed to study abroad. As I continued going through her points, I made notes of how I, and most people, could counter her arguments.
Emily is saying that students should not study abroad because they go to the major European cities that ISIS is most likely attack. First, studying abroad is not central to Europe. Students can go to South America, Australia, Asia, etc. You know, those other continents that exist? Studying abroad allows you to go anywhere. Second, yes, ISIS does target major cities. Does that mean we should stay out of New York City, Philadelphia and Los Angeles too? The United States is just as much under threat as the rest of the world. For her to say, “Would you rather be home safe, in your own country [...] or abroad somewhere in a foreign place, with the chance of an attack happening?” Emily even says herself, “attacks can happen at any time, any place…” That includes the United States. September 11 is fairly strong proof of that. Should there have been a travel ban on New York City? Should high school seniors not have been allowed to apply to schools in the New York City area following those terrorists attacks?
We are not “safer” because we stay in the United States. Emily says that going abroad is a risk to our own lives. Well, so is driving a car — every time you enter a car, there is a probability that you could get into an accident. But we still do it. I live in Northern Philadelphia. Every time I walk the streets at night, it is a risk to my own life. But I’m not going to trap myself in my room. Similarly, college students should not have to stay within the confines of their country just because there is a risk involved with going abroad. And, by the way, parents can sue their child’s university if they slip on an un-shoveled sidewalk on the way to class.
Students go abroad to gain a new perspective of the world. They immerse themselves in a foreign culture, learn new languages, and see how people on the other side of the world live their daily lives. Those experiences make people better — they are more understanding, are more intelligent and have a sense for how small of a space they occupy within this world.
In Emily’s words, however, those who study abroad spend their time Snapchatting and “drinking their way through Europe.” People do not go abroad for show. They do not leave their friends and family for months at a time to party. They do not enter a world completely foreign to them so they can gain more followers. Studying abroad is meant to give college students an experience and an education that they could never have if they stayed at their home university.
The world is a scary place. But it is also incredible. Banning study abroad would inhibit college students’ worldview as well as innumerable possibilities. We go through life every day with the possibility of something terrible happening to us or our loved ones. We are constantly surrounded by danger. Not going abroad does not limit our dangers, it limits our education.
Sincerely,
I’ll be in Europe in two months
