Shop countries, not just classes

By Benjamin Carp You'd have to be on crack not to do Yale-in-London.
I mean, I love Yale, but leaving it for a semester was
the best thing I've ever done. Everyone else should leave too, while they still can.

In the course of my semester at the Yale-in-London program, I threw up in three countries, was almost shot in a closet-sized elevator, spent Christmas Eve drinking wine in a Roman piazza with my old high school teacher, swam in the Mediterranean, caught a bizarre foreign disease, dodged double-decker buses, hopped across Venetian canals, heard ghost stories beneath Edinburgh, and saw the Pope in person.

Meanwhile, my friends were questioned by the U.S. Embassy, threatened by Islamic dissidents, interrogated by Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist division, and mugged by gypsy girls. But they also flirted with carabinieri, bought curry-flavored condoms, and hooked up with bartenders between kegs of beer. Not to mention all the plays, museums, pubs, clubs, and architecture we saw.

It was a series of unforgettable experiences in places I'd never been. Meanwhile, the most exciting thing that happened on campus while I was gone was that we lost one restaurant, one math professor, one Co-op, and two film societies. Given this scenario, I would think that everyone at Yale would want to spend a semester somewhere more exotic--they certainly complain about this place enough.

But the shocking truth is that there is almost no competition for Yale-in-London, and a mere 80 to 100 students apply for a junior semester or term abroad each year (although I should note that this statistic does not include leaves of absence). Why this is, I cannot guess. Perhaps most Yalies are too wrapped up in their classes, their clubs, and their cliques to do something adventurous--and a lot less stressful-- for a change.

Of course, there might be better reasons why Yalies would be discouraged, at least in regard to Yale-in-London. They might have heard about the food. Or the weather. Or the dental programs.

Many people assume that Yale makes it difficult for a junior to study abroad. Certainly the publicity for such programs could be better, but this apprehension is totally misguided. Students are spending too much time looking at the Blue Book (which is often little better than a stereo manual), and too little time actually exploring the possibilities at Undergraduate Career Services. Despite the seemingly tough requirements, it is in fact quite easy to get credit for studying abroad. Almost none of the applicants are rejected--you just need the initiative to apply.

It's a shame that so few Yalies consider going abroad. Those juniors who stay on campus should be the anomaly, not the other way around. I met people from some of the most Podunk schools in the United States who had spent their semesters living in Northumberland castles, becoming marijuana connoisseurs in Amsterdam, or touring Greek islands on a weekly basis. These people came from schools that never even think about the top ten rankings in U.S. News & World Report, but they are getting experiences that the majority of students from the top school may never have.

Yale is one of the greatest schools in the world, and it's no surprise that many of us don't want to leave. But is our education better served in an ivory tower, or out exploring the world we might one day control? It's something I urge everyone to think about. Go while you're a student--it's cheaper, you can sample good beer and good wine, stay in ratty hostels, and avoid the constraints of parents (or worse, children). It's an unbeatable chance to strike out on your own, show your initiative, and perhaps find yourself.

Of course, you might not like what you find. Most Yalies claim to have a great deal of ambition and intelligence, but much of it amounts to common room debates about things like hairstyles, Mormon underwear, the repercussions of oral sex for feminism, and violent Hong Kong films.

Still, you'll never know unless you try. Last week a sophomore stopped me and said she had a few questions about my previous semester in England. I told her I could answer them in one word: "Go."

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