The juniors who are abroad this semester might be missing out on campus election hype, but that doesn't mean they aren't voting.
College junior George Donnelly, who is studying in Scotland this semester, got an absentee ballot because he "wanted to make sure Barack Obama lays the smack down in New Jersey."
Donnelly, who has been following the election from abroad, has "mixed feelings about not being home for the election."
He is disappointed about missing out on the excitement, but said "being in another country and seeing how important the election is to the rest of the world has been an eye-opening experience."
He said he has friends from South Africa, Canada, England, Scotland, Wales and Sri Lanka who tell him how important the U.S. election is to their countries.
"They are all very well informed and extremely passionate about their views," Donnelly said.
He added that he is glad he hasn't had to watch "ridiculous" campaign commercials.
Ginny Halden, a College junior studying in Argentina, is also voting absentee.
"Not only is this the first election that I get to participate in, but it seems to me that this is also a really important election year," Halden said.
"Voting absentee - since that's the only way I can vote - is the best way for me to express what changes I would like to see in government," she added.
Halden, who watched the presidential debates dubbed over in Spanish, is also "[a] little bit upset because at times I feel a little too removed from everything that is going on."
However, she said she is also relieved that she doesn't have to "deal with all the media hype and tension" surrounding the election.
Penn Abroad, a division of the Office of International Programs that organizes programs and advises students about studying abroad during the academic year, sent out an e-mail to students who are abroad this semester about absentee voting, according to Jonathan Hakim, resources coordinator for Penn Abroad.
Penn Leads the Vote executive board member and College senior Stephanie Simon said the group "didn't really do anything specific" to get students who are studying abroad to register absentee.
"All the information you need to register absentee is available online," she said.
