Study abroad not as expected

While studying abroad gives students a chance to experience college in a different environment, it does have negative aspects like cultural adaptation issues and bureaucratic obstacles from an external study abroad company.

Under the University Studies Abroad Consortium housing options, students have the choice to live with a local family, known as a homestay. This is an interesting housing option, different from traditional university education in the United States. While living with a family does “provide an unmatched opportunity for practicing Spanish and becoming part of the culture,” as the USAC Web site states, it also restricts students from having guests of the opposite sex in their bedroom at any time.

It also prohibits students from inviting guests into the home when the homestay adults are not home, a rule of the USAC program. It is reasonable to presume that most students participating in study abroad programs are at least 18, because the majority of participating students receive academic credit.

Eighteen is the age at which a U.S. citizen can vote, purchase cigarettes, enter the military, be tried as an adult in a court of law, enter legal contracts, purchase pornographic material and obtain a handgun permit. All of these actions entail maturity and responsibility, and some are life-threatening.

It is preposterous that a person who is capable of deciding whether to give their life for their country is not able to have a visitor of the opposite sex into their homestay bedroom. Young adults who have the right to engage in life-threatening decisions also should have the right to have visitors when in agreement with the host family.

A related issue is the condition of the rooms that families rent to students, a matter that is entrusted to the staff of the study abroad program. USAC charges students living in Chilean homes approximately $600 per month for one room and two meals a day. Lisa Marie Barry, 20, is a student studying in Santiago, Chile, through USAC. She said her homestay bedroom is cramped, and she has four feet of free space.

“In the Housing Information document on Page 2 it says that, ‘In general, homestays are located between 30 to 45 minutes from the university,’” said Student Information Director Michelle Cobb.  But on the USAC Web site under Living Accommodations, it states that students who choose to live with a family will reside with families who “are located within 30 to 50 minutes commuting distance to the university.” Incongruence breeds confusion – and annoyance.

During rush hour in the metro, the commute can take more than one hour. Barry lives in Las Condes – east of central Santiago – and classes in the USAC program take place at Andres Bello University, in central Santiago. Barry says it takes her one hour to commute to school, using the metro and a bus.

“It is not typical for the host families to have Internet access” Cobb said. This is difficult to fathom – let alone deal with – as technology becomes more important and Internet telephone systems such as Skype gain popularity. There are computer labs at Andres Bello, but the two public ones I most often used were constantly full. And Internet access was slow, computers often froze up and had mice that did not move correctly. 

The USAC program offers an optional group trip during the middle of the semester. Barry originally planned to participate in this trip but informed USAC on Jan. 9, two days after the start date of the program, that she no longer wanted to participate. The resident director told Barry this was fine and she would be reimbursed $500, the cost of the trip.

Barry called the USAC central office in Reno, Nev., to confirm this was true, and they told her they never received notification of her withdrawal. They said regardless of whether she went or not, Barry would still have to pay $500 or her transcripts would not be sent to her university in the United States, preventing her from enrolling in classes there.

“I am in a different country far away from my friends and family. I am in the most vulnerable position I have ever been in my life. If one thing goes wrong I could snap, and USAC does not seem to care about that,” Barry said.

Barry is extremely dissatisfied with the USAC staff.

“I think they get a lot more professional credit than they deserve.  I don’t think they should be caretakers of students that are studying abroad.”