I am a somewhat atypical Temple Law Student.

Whereas most law students simply move from their 1L year to 2L year, I decided to move to Milan, Italy for my fall semester to study international intellectual property, human rights, and the legal system of the European Union. I then decided to spend my 2L spring semester at Temple’s campus in Tokyo, Japan, where I’m gaining insight into the legal systems of east Asia. In total, I will be studying abroad for eight months.

Making the decision to study abroad, especially for two semesters, is a big commitment. Below, I’ve shared the questions I asked myself before making the decision to go international.

If you’re thinking of studying abroad in law school, these questions are a good place to start.

Question One: Are you looking to study abroad because it will be a useful tool in your law school toolbox, or because you just want to travel the world?

Prior to law school, I moved from place to place, working as a system engineer for various branches and units of the U.S. military, including joint special forces & the U.S. Marines in Afghanistan, Cuba, Bahrain, and other locales. When I decided to go to law school, I had to put my roving on hold; something I found to be very difficult at times. In evaluating my desire to study abroad, then, I had to figure out how to separate my love of geographic instability from the logical idea that studying abroad could prove to be a valuable resource for my budding law career. I had to ask myself: Was I considering a semester abroad because I wanted the alternate perspective that a foreign law school would bring, or was I considering it because my hiking pack was getting dusty and my feet were ready to walk across lands that had yet to feel the tread of my well-worn Converse All Stars?

Ultimately, I was able to separate the two by considering how I planned on using my degree. As a former government contractor and IT professional, any career I pursued was likely to require a bit of international flair. As such, getting the aforementioned foreign perspective would be vital. And while I was honest about my desire to be on the move again, an honest evaluation suggested that the appeal was incidental to the purpose of my semester abroad.

The Takeaway: The average law school student hasn’t been skipping around the world with a hiking pack and a thirst for danger. Even so, you still need to contend with the temptation to choose a semester abroad for the wrong reasons. The world will be there when you graduate. If study abroad doesn’t mesh well with your study plan… do the smart thing. Take a vacation instead of committing to study abroad.

Question Two: Will you be missing any crucial opportunities at your main law school campus by studying abroad?

Even after clearing question one, I still had to consider that by studying abroad, I would be precluded from taking advantage of certain Temple programs. For example, I became quite interested in Temple Law’s business law partnership with the Fox Business School after hearing a faculty presentation. By studying abroad, I knew I would be unable to pursue that option. Similarly, the chance to participate in student organizations and law review would be made more difficult to pursue.

The Takeaway: For me, the answer was pretty straightforward. The value in studying abroad outweighed the other opportunities. For you, the answer may be different. For example, if you’re aspiring to be a prosecutor, you may be better off taking practical courses at Temple. If you’re know you’re going to work in Philadelphia on local problems, perhaps the connections you build at Temple will be more useful to you. Be smart about it, talk to a career counselor, talk to your professors, and talk to people who are attending the universities you’re considering abroad. If you still feel that swapping Temple’s excellent programs for a semester abroad is a good trade, then studying abroad is probably the right choice for you.

Question Three: Are you absolutely sure you are mentally prepared to rejoin the expat life?

For someone who has lived abroad for the nearly half a decade, this question seemed easy to answer. Having lived in war zones and other austere environments, living in a nation with a functioning infrastructure ought to be easy, right?

Well, no, not necessarily.

“The world will be there when you graduate. If study abroad doesn’t mesh well with your study plan… do the smart thing. Take a vacation instead of committing to study abroad.”

The thing is, living abroad as an expatriate is an entirely different experience. On a military base, sure, I had people (occasionally) shooting at me, but the rules of the game were decidedly American. I knew how things worked. As an expatriate, though, I‘m on my own. Temple can only help you so much, after all. On the more mundane side, I’d have to find an apartment and figure out a transportation system in a country where English is only spoken by around 30% of the country.

Additionally, there was a lot of prep work to be done before studying abroad. I had to get accepted to my host university, get a student visa, buy plane tickets, and find a place to live, and I had to do a lot of this as I prepared for spring semester final exams.

The Takeaway: If you choose to study abroad, you need to consider whether you’re willing to take on that additional stress. For some people, stress is a catalyst; it gets their blood pumping and their brain thinking. For others, piling extraneous stressors onto an already stressful situation (I mean law school, of course) is too much. For those people, studying abroad may be a bad option, or an option best pursued over the summer break.

There are plenty of secondary considerations that went into my decision to study abroad, but this is a good place to start. If you still aren’t sure if study abroad is right for you, talk to upper-level students who have done it, or Dean Louis Thompson in the International and Graduate Programs office. Though my decision to study abroad was mostly made when I scheduled my appointment, the insight of both Dean Thomspon and Director Raccanello were key to my choosing Milan. If you’re serious about studying abroad, or just unsure which program is right for you, I cannot recommend them enough. Until next time!