By Eric Tiettmeyer

In this issue, we write about a very unique college experience than you are familiar with. We recommend you go abroad for the entire length of your degree.
Scary? We think it is more exciting and thrilling!

I didn't study abroad in a traditional program. If I knew then, what I know now after publishing education abroad magazines for the last 20 years, you bet I would have left for international summer school the day after high school graduation.

Instead, I left for Europe when I was 20. It was my first time abroad, and I was about as green as they come. I remember going, to the airport to book my flight (and pay in cash) because I didn't know what a travel agent was.
My trip was an unofficial semester abroad in Switzerland. Well, it actually started out with a 6-month volunteer job at Chateau de Bossey (bossey.ch) in a small farm town north of Geneva. What if I could arrange for some kind of academic credit?
I registered for an art class and European history class at Saddleback College. It was my first year. I had no intention of actually sticking around for an 18-week semester. In the second-class meeting I told both teachers about my upcoming job in Europe. One teacher was totally into it. I left for Europe and would then document my visits to European museums. I'd submit a paper upon return and I'd get my 3 credits. It was a self-inspired, quasi-independent study abroad class - with a really cool professor on the other end of my dream.
I don't remember what happened to the other teacher, but it didn't matter. I knew I would receive some academic credit to go abroad and that was enough!
Those six months in Europe changed my life. The experiences were immeasurable. I learned things about myself I never knew. I was painfully shy, and I had to learn how to open up out of my comfort zone. I had to manage a new language and try to communicate with my new bosses! I faced culture shock, missed trains, and I even slept on a park bench because of it.
Had I stayed in Europe longer, my experience probably would have been even more incredible.
For me, it was the first of many journeys as I continued to travel abroad and started a travel magazine for college students called Student Traveler, and now Degree Abroad that you are holding in your hand.
But through all the discussion on cost savings, using US Federal Aid, Visas, etc it's important to remember the best part of a degree abroad - an international experience that will truly change your life - for the better. I hope you consider stepping outside your comfort zone and consider a degree abroad at any of the great universities and programs included in this issue.