Younge, a History and Literature concentrator with a focus on America, says that she was surprised by the eagerness of her concentration advisor to help ensure that Younge could fit her study abroad into her four-year academic schedule.

“I couldn’t have asked for a nicer relationship, both when I was abroad and when I came back,” Younge says.

TAKING MORE TIME

Students say that the difference between an eight-week summer and a four-month semester consists of more than a variance in duration.

Studying abroad over the summer is substantially more popular than going overseas during the semester, but students who stayed abroad for a full semester say that they felt as though they made a substantive transition from being a long-term tourist to a resident of the city, integrated into the culture and the personality of their new home.

“After four months you really feel like you belong,” Seesel says.

Students taking a semester abroad are often able to explore far more than their host city. Wilcox, who stayed in Barcelona with Seesel for the same program, says that they traveled from their base in Barcelona to Rome, London, Istanbul, Morocco, and London—trips they certainly would not have taken had they been in Barcelona for a mere eight weeks.

Some study abroad programs include local travel as an integral part of the student’s experience. The Council on International Educational Exchange in Ghana—a Harvard-approved program—sponsors trips to different parts of the country every two to three weeks during a semester.

Students who undertook full semester trips away from Cambridge, despite the perceived drawbacks, unanimously say that their experiences were the highlights of their Harvard career.

“It really did re-invigorate me about why I’m studying, why I’m at Harvard, and where I want my studies to take me,” Owusu says.

—Staff writer Monica M. Dodge can be reached at mdodge@college.harvard.edu.