Pros & Cons of Studying Abroad Senior Year

I always knew I wanted to study abroad in college. I knew this in middle school. Because of this, I did a study away program in my sophomore year of college during January Term, which acted as a test run to see if I would enjoy studying abroad for an entire semester. I then took the next step by doing a Summer Term abroad in Turkey before my junior year. Suddenly I was planning out my senior year and I still had not studied abroad for a semester. Truthfully, I didn’t want to miss out on my senior year but I always felt like I needed to do a semester abroad, so I weighed the pros and cons. 

Pros:

• I’ve always wanted to do this.
• I can take whatever classes I want because I have completed nearly every required class that I need at my home school.
• I will get to travel, and I have never had the opportunity to do that before.
• I will live in a new country and a new culture.
• One of my majors is anthropology, and spending a semester abroad feels crucial to understanding the study of anthropology and my love for it. 

Cons:

• I will be missing out on over half of my last year of college.
• I will be missing out on memories with my friends and the school that I love so much.
• I will lose my leadership roles that I have gained and built throughout my other three years of college.
• I will not see my family for 4 months.
• I will not see my girlfriend for 4 months.
• I will have no form of income for 4 months. 

I could go on to list so many more pros and so many more cons, but you get the idea. I was hesitant to study abroad because of all of the things that I would miss out on if I was not there for my final fall semester. Truthfully, I do miss all of those things. I miss my friends, my family, my girlfriend, my college, my campus job, and my executive positions in the various clubs I was in. But I knew that that would happen when I chose to go abroad. I knew that all of those facts would be true, but I knew that they would not outweigh the regret I would feel if I didn’t do a semester abroad. 

So yes, of course I miss all of those things. That’s normal. And a part of me may look back and wish I had experienced my senior year in the comfort of my friends and school that I love. But I chose to be uncomfortable. I chose to make my life hard by traveling across the world by myself to a country I know nearly nothing about that speaks a language I do not know at all. I chose that, and for some reason, I longed for that. And now I am doing that, I am living that. 

If you are questioning if you should study abroad during your senior year of college, I recommend making your own pros and cons list. However, I advise you to also ask yourself what you will regret more: staying or leaving. As annoying as it is to hear every person who has ever studied abroad say “it will change your life,” it is true. No experience in your life will ever be like a semester abroad. And I’ve never heard of anyone who regrets it. So if you’re reading this and you're pondering, I think you should do it :)