Almost everyone loves cruise ships, so what could be bad about using one to travel the world for four months? Absolutely everything.
Semester at Sea is a study abroad program that has been around for a while but has only become popular in recent years due to the seeming arms race between college students for the most Instagram-worthy pictures and displaying the most pins on a map. Its participants flaunt their ability to say they have been to four continents and ten countries, leaving out the minor detail that they spent only a few days at each place. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so why take only one day to judge it?
If a foreigner spent a few days in New York City and shared their opinion with their home country, we would be offended by the results. As citizens, we know the city to be outlandishly different from the rest of the country, but a foreigner would not. They would assume the entire country to be flooded with skyscrapers and rushing people, never having the time or resources to observe the different cultures even within the same state.
Seeing so many different places in a short period of time is like picking up so much that it cannot be carried, and it ends up all falling to the ground. Any observations are unable to be further investigated authentically because time with locals is so short, and no country will ever be home if “home” is a cruise ship. Participants will never have to get used to weird food, learn to speak the native language or have the time to form deep relationships with people who were born and raised in the country of interest.
While peers studying abroad in one country are petting tigers in Cambodia or learning a Latin dance in Argentina, Semester at Sea participants spend half the time stranded in the middle of the ocean taking classes. Not to mention the cost: All things included, Semester at Sea typically costs $35,000 to $40,000, which is far more than the price of most study abroad programs.
Perhaps the greatest reason to study abroad is the independence one gets from living abroad, yet attending Semester at Sea restricts this freedom by literally keeping everyone at bay. This does not even indicate the program’s safety; 13 people have died on these trips. While that is not to say that traditional study abroad programs are perfectly safe, staying in one region enables students to more accurately learn the dangers of the area that they are staying in.
Semester at Sea looks most attractive to students who have never traveled before, believing that if they only have the opportunity to travel once, it should be to the whole world. But seeing just the hot spots of each country does not shed light onto the genuine culture. In an increasingly globalized society, the world needs people who are able to think beyond generalizations. College is the only time when taking three months off of school to truly live in one place is actually practical, and relatively easy. If a few days in each place is truly what you seek, there is a whole lifetime of week-long vacations ahead of you. Take advantage while you can to live in a foreign place, learn the ins and outs of and develop love and a passion for a home away from home.