Welcome to the inaugural column of “Ask Audrey,” an advice column where I do my best to answer your questions and weigh in with my advice. I’ve spent most of my life in the role of “therapist friend,” a position that I take as seriously as I can without ever having taken so much as “Introduction to Experimental Psychology” (not for lack of trying — that class fills up with shocking speed here).
I have spent many a late night on the phone or on the floor of my room with friends hearing about their academic worries, their family concerns, their “situationships” that just can’t seem to figure themselves out, and I am now here to impart the lessons I’ve learned from these experiences, combined with my own, upon you. If you’re interested in submitting anonymously to “Ask Audrey,” feel free to do so here.
Today’s question: “I’d love advice on whether or not to study abroad and when.”
What a timely question! As I answer this, there are two unread emails from my own study abroad program coming up next semester in my inbox. It might not surprise you from that information that my answer is that yes, you should absolutely study abroad if at all possible. My reason for saying so is not, however, related to my own study abroad plans.
I came to Penn as a transfer student at the start of my sophomore year. In the year-plus-a-few-months that have passed since then, I’ve really come to see the value in having an experience, no matter what length, of going to another school and breaking out of the Penn bubble. To be able to see that not all schools are created equal and that the Penn way of life isn’t the only one by any means is, honestly, a gift.
Transferring is probably one of the harder ways to figure that out, though, and studying abroad seems like a much more fun way to learn similar lessons. I would absolutely encourage you to go, preferably to a program at a completely new university where you’ll also meet lots of people from other parts of the country and world. Branch outside your comfort zone as much as possible, and then, you’ll have experiences that will shape you in ways that Penn, despite its many gifts, never could.
I do want to note that for different people, branching out of your comfort zone looks very different. For those who (like me) are a bit worried about the idea of being in a foreign country for a prolonged period of time, maybe going to an English-speaking country is a safer move, since the absence of a language barrier means one less thing to get used to. For someone who is more adventurous, this could look like applying to a program that Penn usually doesn’t send students to, so you can really start over for a semester. No matter what, though, there’s a real strength in being pushed to grow and learn. It doesn’t come from doing the same thing you’ve always done.
As to the question of when, this is really dependent person-to-person. If your major offers something like a thesis program, you might want to consider scheduling around the time when you’d have to take an associated class related to research for it. Junior spring is a super common time to go abroad, but if Penn’s traditions are really your thing, maybe you don’t want to miss Hey Day and would prefer to go in the fall. I would make a list of the things that you want out of your Penn experience — things that you feel that you just can’t miss. Then, try to see which semester you could miss away from campus while still fulfilling as many of those goals as possible.
Thank you for writing in. No matter what you decide, I hope you make choices that expand your mind. I promise you’ll grow from new experiences.
AUDREY LEVENSON is a College junior from Pelham, N.Y. studying political science and English. Her email is audklev@sas.upenn.edu.
