Studying Abroad: Good or Bad

Today the news broke that a 22 year old American women Amanda Know was convicted of Murder in Italy where she was studying abroad. Amanda has been sentenced to twenty-six years in prison. The court could have given her life in prison, which is the stiffest punishment in Italy, but they lowered it from what prosecutors wanted it to be. Her family is going to continue to fight for her, but I think it will be a rough road ahead of them while they are fighting.
I can’t even come to terms thinking about if I was the one who was studying abroad then one accused of murder, then convicted of murdering a man in a foreign country. Here is a college student that is trying to graduate from college, but will probably never be able to finish her degree now.
When students first learn that they are going to study abroad most if not all of them are extremely excited that they are getting this opportunity to go to a foreign country. Many may have the excitement ware off when the time comes closer for them to leave there comfort zone from their college and home where their parents are at. This can be such a scary time, but a very exciting time at the same time.
When you go to a foreign country the medical system and judicial systems are different from what we have in the United States. Everyone knows this, but I have a friend that was studying abroad in Scotland and was injured which led him to have to have surgery on his arm. Tim and his friends were having a normal day in the country side of Scotland and they decided to rent mopeds to ride around. When they were riding around Tim fell off his moped and broke his arm so badly that his arm required surgery to repair it. Since he is a different country his health insurance was a big mess that he had to deal with and he only had his friends that went to school with him that he had only known for a little while. When we spoke with his mom she said that it is very hard to know that her son is in a different country, injured and she can’t do anything to help him. She could have flew to Scotland to be with him, but plane tickets are expensive and the economy is not helping with this either. She said it was one of the worst feelings she has ever had while being a mother knowing that her son is injured and there is nothing she can do about it since he is on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. She just prayed for him to heal quickly and to enjoy the rest of his time abroad in Scotland.
When you are studying abroad there are always risks you are going to take and some will be good and some will be bad. It is never easy going away to school, let along going to a completely different country where you no nobody and have to make friends all over again. I do not know how students do this every single semester. I have thought about studying abroad and I really like the idea about it, but I do not think I could handle it personally. When you study abroad you are there for five months and most of the time the only contact you have with your family is scarce phone calls, emails, and snail mail. (mail sent through the post office or FedEx or UPS). Except with today’s technology you can have better conversations with your family through Skype or other online video messaging services. The only issue with video messaging is the time difference between the United States and countries in Europe and Asia.
A girl from my hometown is studying abroad as a junior this year in Taiwan. I do not know how she is doing it, but she is loving it and having a blast. I can understand studying abroad in Europe, but in Asia, I think it would be harder since the customs over there are very different from ours. Europe is similar to us, but we are not all the same. Customs can be a very sensitive subject in foreign countries and sometimes are not the easiest things to get use to, but since we would only be visiting for a little while, should the countries expect us to comply with all there customs and rituals they follow daily?
I think that we should not have to follow all there customs to the tee, but we should respect them enough to try and follow what they practice, even if it is eating something that we do not like, or worshiping a different way than we are use to. It is there life and we have a very different one from there’s, but we still need to respect them no matter what happens.
It is sad to see what happened to Amanda Knox in Italy, but it is a chance that anyone takes who studies abroad for a semester or year. Living in a different country, with different people can be hard on not only yourself, but also your family who is waiting for you to come home. Can you imagine if you were Amanda Knox’s parents when they received a phone call saying that their daughter is going to be tried for murder in a different country? I cannot even begin to think what they are going through and what they are going to have to go through in the next few months. It is going to be tough on them, but they will come through. If you have a strong family and strong relationships with each other you can make it through anything. The Knox family will survive this, it may not be easy but they will find away because they love their daughter and are going to support her no matter what, just like Tim’s mom did when he was injured in Scotland.