It is a common assumption at Tufts that the junior Jumbo will study abroad. Given Tufts' emphasis on global citizenship and international diversity, students are encouraged to experience a culture different from their own.
But not every student at Tufts chooses to travel overseas. Plenty choose to spend all four years on the Hill.
According to Director of Programs Abroad Sheila Bayne, 40 percent of Tufts students study abroad during the academic year. This means that despite what some students think, most Jumbos do not spend a semester abroad.
Why isn't the abroad experience for everyone? Some students blamed academic concentrations with especially rigorous requirements, such as the engineering and pre-med programs.
Senior and engineer Joe Weidenbach is one example. According to Weidenbach, daunting course requirements made the possibility of a semester abroad seem much less attractive.
"Because of the amount of credits I had to take, I couldn't fit it into my schedule," he said. "Some of my [engineering] friends have managed to do it, but they're paying the price now: they're taking six credits their last semester at Tufts."
Weidenbach was disappointed to learn that his passion for engineering would so negatively affect his options for an experience overseas. He noted that the engineering program is most demanding during the junior year.
"One of the big reasons I chose Tufts was because it was so international," he said. "I had all these great plans of combining engineering with an abroad experience in Japan, and that didn't pan out."
Senior and pre-med student Hara Rosen cited similar reasons for her choice to stay in Medford. "Because I'm pre-med, I wanted to finish everything in time to graduate and double major," she said. "It definitely wasn't that I didn't want an abroad experience."
While Rosen said she does not regret her decision, she did admit to feeling a certain degree of tension over the subject, which is why she has plans to travel to Europe this summer.
"A part of me does feel like I did want the abroad experience," she said.
Weidenbach agreed. "It's a little sad to see everyone go at first and to hear all their stories when they come back," he said. "And also to not have anything to say myself, except about going to frat parties."
According to Weidenbach, Tufts' general promotion of global awareness is not shared by the School of Engineering.
"I feel like Tufts encourages [internationalism] a lot, but the engineering school does not," he said. "I think they need to think more internationally because engineering doesn't happen only in America."
Weidenbach also suggested more generous rules regarding credits for courses taken abroad as a first step. "It would be nice if when they're evaluating credits for abroad they were a little more lenient ... because that would allow engineers a lot more freedom to go to different places," he said.
In response to the complaints of engineering and pre-med students that the abroad experience is not conducive to the rigorous demands of their respective programs, Bayne said an experience abroad is a feasible option for all undergraduates.
"There are [abroad] programs where we have some very extensive equivalency [with engineering and pre-med requirements]," she said. "But it does require some advanced planning and picking the right program."
Bayne mentioned London and Hong Kong as two especially friendly destinations for engineering and pre-med students looking to fulfill requirements abroad. Still, Bayne said, engineers and pre-meds should not feel that their choice of destination is limited to two.
"Students who want to go to a destination where they offer no engineering, they plan ahead," she said.
Still, Rosen said, extra time in Medford has its advantages.
"You can take more classes at Tufts and have more leadership positions," she said. "If you want to get the most out of your Tufts experience and accomplish the most, you should be here all four years, and then you can go abroad afterwards."
Junior Courtney Houston-Carter is one student who turned down an experience abroad in order to take full advantage of his activities at Tufts and in Boston. As a third-year intern for Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), the Speakers Coordinator for the Tufts Democrats, and an active proponent of Senator Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, Houston-Carter chose to focus his energies on his experiences at home.
"I don't want to be labeled as 'Mr. American guy' who doesn't need to go abroad," he said, adding that he hopes to travel to Europe and the Middle East in the near future. "I think I'm making the most of my Tufts experience. And hopefully what I learn now through Boston politics will have an impact on the international level."
Houston-Carter said it is difficult for the students at Tufts who choose to forgo the semester or year-long abroad experience, even though they are, in fact, the majority.
"People always asked me, 'where are you going abroad,' not 'are you going abroad,'" he said. "Everyone assumes that because you go to Tufts, you're going abroad."
Bayne attributed many students' decisions against studying abroad to an "overachiever" mentality that exists at Tufts.
"There's an ethic at Tufts of double majoring and triple majoring, and students say, 'Oh, I can't study abroad,' and you know, this is one of those decisions in your life where you have to set priorities," she said. "I always tell students, 'you only need one major to graduate.'"
The value of an abroad experience, Bayne explained, is learning to see the world through different eyes.
"You have the opportunity to learn the lesson early in your life that every culture makes sense in its own context, and you can participate in that context, and you become a different person in that context," she said. "And that's a good feeling. It doubles your identity."
Bayne recommended that students who do choose to stay at Tufts during their junior year adopt an "abroad" mindset, which emphasizes curiosity and tolerance.
"You can have an abroad experience without leaving Medford," she said, suggesting activities aimed at getting out of the dorm room, traveling into Boston, and meeting new people.
"Abroad is a state of mind, of openness," she added. "And you can have that attitude everywhere."
