Studying Abroad in College, Post Amanda Knox

Just over a week ago today, Amanda Knox was released from an Italian prison and the judgment of having been convicted of murder.  What was intended to be a positive, educational and cultural experience abroad, turned into a four-year nightmare.

In full disclosure, I believe in Amanda’s innocence 100 percent and have so from early on.  In 2009 I became acquainted with an organization called, friendsofamanda.org.  Reading about the complexities and corruption of the case and the truth about Amanda’s character only confirmed what I already felt in my gut, that this was a young and sincere girl who found herself in an unimaginable situation.

I also studied in Perugia at the University for Foreigners in the fall of 2003.  I’m familiar with that city (extremely international and known for it’s party and drug scene) and what it’s like to be alone as a foreigner far from home.  As the events in this case continued to unfold, I kept thinking that what was happening to Amanda could have happened to me or to any one of us who have studied abroad.  I had this conversation with my mother and she, of course, had already gone through that thought process.

If what happened to Amanda and Meredith Kercher (her British roommate, also studying abroad, who was brutally murdered) before I studied in Perugia, I’m not sure I would have gone. Before this case, I would have encouraged my daughter to study abroad.  If she were in high school or college now, wanting to study abroad, I’d have some serious hesitations. 

When participating in a program such as that which the University of Washington offers, and has offered for years with hundreds of students coming home safe and sound after a wonderful experience, we assume that something like what happened to Amanda Knox was unthinkable, especially in a country like Italy.  Timothy Egan shares on his blog post for the NY Times, “I was drawn to this story because of the parallels to my own family: my daughter, a Seattle girl who never knew Knox, was taking her junior year in Italy at the same time as Knox. Suddenly, Seattle, and a college student abroad, took on a very menacing new meaning.”

I can only imagine how the parents of Meredith Kercher and Amanda Knox now feel about sending their children abroad.  One family permanently lost their daughter in a most brutal way, while the other had to fight relentlessly for her freedom for four years in a country and legal system that were foreign to them.  Curt Knox, Amanda’s father, was asked just hours after Amanda’s return to Seattle, if he had any recommendations for parents whose children are about to study abroad.  His answer was to have a plan in place if something were to happen.

So, what would that plan be?

I think I would be heavily researching the program, country and city in which my child was going to participate. 

Are there representatives over there from the program to contact in the event that something awful did happen? 

Write down the numbers of the closest American Embassy. 

Speak to someone at the American Embassy and ask what is suggested in an emergency.

Interview the director of the program. 

Where will your child be living, with a host family or on his/her own? 

Talk to students who have previously studied in that program.

How independent will they be expected to be in this foreign land? 

What does the program do in a situation of crisis? 

How involved will or can the program get? 

Is there an orientation for the students not only before they leave on the program but also once they arrive? 

What kinds of safety nets are there for the students in the program?

Has anything awful or unusual ever happened before?

During my time at the University of Washington as an Italian teaching assistant, I had a classmate and friend who worked in the study abroad office at the UW.  I specifically remember her telling me that they tended to steer students away from the Perugia program and didn’t let just anyone study there.  The program in Perugia requires a more mature type of student who must be capable of finding their own lodging (vs. staying with a host family) and navigating the University for Foreigners on their own. 

Regardless of maturity level, what happened in Perugia was not something for which the study abroad office could have predicted or prepared.  Had I found myself in the same circumstances as Amanda, even at 28-years-old vs. 20, I’m not sure what I would have done differently.  I, too, probably would have stuck around to help in anyway I could.  It’s what good and innocent (perhaps too innocent) people do.    

My travels and studies abroad have provided me with some of the richest experiences of my life.  In fact, as a result of my time in Perugia eight years ago, I met my husband.  We now have a daughter with whom we speak Italian.  One of my dreams for my daughter is that she can travel abroad when she’s older and experience a multi-lingual and multi-cultural life.  Thankfully, we have several years before we are faced with making those decisions.  And in the wake of the Amanda Knox trial, I will absolutely have an emergency plan in place for myself or for my children while traveling or studying abroad.