Boston College senior Carol Liang in Capri, Italy. On semesters abroad, students are often spotted taking turns staging individual photoshoots for each other for Facebook and Instagram. (Courtesy of Carol Liang)

Much of the time, this answer may be genuine, even gushy. But for some, it serves as a go-to reply, stemming from a reluctance to admit their decision may not have been worth the money, time or effort. 

The hype of overseas programs, combined with the proliferation of social networking, can lead to feelings of pride being prioritized over culture shock and homesickness. 

“I went abroad because everyone said it was the time of your life and that you had to do it and it was this amazing experience,” said Sarah, a University of Southern California senior who declined to be identified by her full name. “When I got there, I was unhappy and I never got past the stage that most people do of adjusting.” 

Still, “whenever we would travel somewhere, we took at least 10 minutes taking photos,” said Sarah, who studied abroad in Brighton, England. “I felt like wherever we went wasn’t about going there, it was about proving we went there – with Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and blogs.”

In what can easily be regarded as a one-off opportunity for a months-long holiday, particularly as many academic programs are marked on a pass/fail basis, students say there is a fear of being seen by others as “negative,” or worse, “ungrateful.” 

Carol Liang, a Boston College senior who spent a semester in Parma, Italy, noted a classmate who decided to cancel a trip because she was feeling homesick. “She left it until the last week, so it was obviously on her mind,” she said.

Pressure can manifest itself in other ways, including joining the local nightlife scene. Being abroad made Liang “feel the need to party more,” she said. “Only because other people in my program were always so up for drinking … And the fact we were only there for four months.”

Not all students subscribe to this mentality. Chinese University of Hong Kong student Gareth Cheng said his travel mishaps during an internship in Groningen, the Netherlands, were what ended up “becoming some of the fondest and most poignant memories.”

“Of course there will be frustrating things or things that don’t go to plan, but I tend to see these as unavoidable challenges of traveling,” he said.

Cambridge University student Elaine Zhao said people often typecast her semesters in Kenya and Beijing by having conventional expectations. “People were definitely like, ‘But Africa is amazing, right?!’ Just because it’s an exotic place to us. But I was going to a place with extreme poverty, corruption and wealth inequality,” she said. “So the experience was definitely more eye-opening than it was necessarily ‘positive.’”

“The point in travels abroad has kind of blurred into the expectation to ‘have fun’ or ‘enjoy it,’” Zhao added. “When actually, it should be about gaining new experiences and learning more about yourself by seeing how you deal with them, especially if they’re uncomfortable or unpleasant.”

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