Staying safe while studying abroad

Recently, I was having a conversation with one of my good friends at school. She was worried that her parents wouldn’t allow her to spend next semester studying abroad in Paris.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “If you don’t go, at least you won’t end up like ?Amanda Knox.” She didn’t get the joke because she had no idea who Amanda Knox was, and it was an irrelevant ?connection, anyway.

My friend has nothing to worry about, for her experiences will undoubtedly mirror many of those who went abroad before her. Every spring semester, half the junior class of my sorority departs for a semester of studying in a foreign ?country.

Whether they are bound for Florence or Barcelona, their stories and experiences will inevitably blend together interchangeably. They will be greeted at the airport by representatives from their programs and will be taken to student housing clusters, where they will live with other American students, many of whom they know prior to embarking on their travels.

Once situated, they will go out to clubs frequented by other American students, sightsee in packs with their extended group of roommates and friends and meet other people from all over the Big Ten.

The “studying” part of studying abroad won’t actually happen — unless you count food and wine pairing and soccer as legitimate ?academic classes. I always thought of these organized programs as expensive, extended vacations abroad, lacking the individual quality and unique cultural experience that comes with exploring an unknown ?territory on your own terms.

However, after following the horror story that was Amanda Knox’s junior year abroad, I am compelled to ?reconsider this sentiment. Perhaps there is something to be said for experiencing the world within the confines of an organized ?program.

Freed Monday after four years in an Italian jail cell, Knox finally returned to the United States after being acquitted of sexually assaulting and murdering her former roommate, British student Meredith Kercher.

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the case is the fact that Knox, a naive American student with no criminal record and a good reputation, had become involved in a murder investigation in the first place.

Though most study abroad students go through some sort of organized ?program, Knox acted more independently. Responsible for securing her own housing, she spontaneously moved into the apartment she and Kercher would share with two older Italian women.

She took a job as a waitress at a local cafe to make some extra cash and began a relationship with a fellow student, native Italian ?Raffaele Sollecito. This immersion into typical Italian daily life and isolation from her peers is vastly different from the stories I’ve heard from friends who have gone abroad through student travel companies.

Looking back, it is easy to see how Knox was swept up in the investigation. Alone in a foreign country, Knox could barely speak the language, had no access to a lawyer and knew nothing of the Italian legal system.

Aside from this, there was no one there to offer counsel at the time of her arrest ­— with her parents hours away in the U.S., she could have benefited from the support of a representative from an organized program.

Though Knox’s story has a happy ending, it serves as a warning for all those who choose to spend time abroad. I’ve always dismissed the big-box program providers as sanitized ways of viewing the world. You may not find me on one anytime soon, but I can see the benefits ?they provide.

­— ellethom@indiana.edu