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Deciding to study abroad was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I had always been interested in spending a semester in another country, but when the time came to register, I began to worry that studying abroad would make it very difficult for me to obtain my degree. I think this deters many Penn students from going abroad, but the truth is, most people can get enough credit abroad to make it feasible. Penn students go just about anywhere, most on Penn programs, but there is always the option to find your own experience. The staff at Penn Abroad is very helpful, and makes all aspects of the semester manageable.

I spent my semester at University College London. This was no small program; I was among 50 Penn students studying at a university of around 12,000 undergraduates. I lived in a standard dorm there, a decision that shaped my semester. Surrounded by British freshman, as well as study abroad students from the US, France, Germany, and elsewhere in Europe. While studying in a small town may have taught me more about a particular culture, my time in London, a truly international city, provided me with meaningful interactions with individuals from many different backgrounds. One memory sticks out to me that really captures this idea. A bunch of us were hanging out in the dorm one night, and starting talking about TV shows. An American friend and I were discussing the show TaleSpin (don’t ask me why), and our French friend David remarked that he knew that show. In fact, he had watched all the shows we watched as children, only with French dubbed over. Soon, we were all singing the French version of the TaleSpin theme song, and comparing it to the German version.

Everyone should go abroad, and the number one reason is the people. Sure, you take interesting classes with foreign professors, you travel through Europe (or elsewhere) during long weekends and extended breaks, and you encounter new cultures. But what makes all these experiences so memorable is the people you are sharing them with. During my 12 weeks abroad, I became close with students I would otherwise never have met, and in fact made a lot of friends from Penn in addition to all the Europeans I met. I could of course write pages on my time spent abroad, the most enriching semester of college, but I would rather end this by saying that if at all possible, study abroad, at least for the summer, because honestly, there’s nothing like it.

Penn Abroad: University College London

University College London

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