Growing up in coastal Massachusetts, Sarah Laputz (COL ’07) has always been drawn to the sea.

So she dove right in when her environmental studies professor Tim Beach suggested that she study marine biology at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia in spring 2006.

“You can’t really [study marine biology] that much at Georgetown, especially if you want to know the science of it,” she said.

Georgetown offers several approved study abroad programs to Australia, but since James Cook’s study abroad program is not an official Georgetown program, Laputz applied to go there with the independent status, or IC, offered by the Office of International Programs.

OIP Executive Director Kathy Bellows said that her office encourages all students to enroll in Georgetown-approved study abroad programs, but that students “could probably do whatever it is they want to do through the IC status” if they cannot find a suitable Georgetown program. Bellows said that 26 students took advantage of IC programs last year.

OIP first evaluates all non-approved study abroad sites for their academic quality and student services, Bellows said, before assessing each student’s application.

“Georgetown has strict standards,” she said.

The application process is more difficult when a student wishes to travel to a country where a U.S. State Department travel warning has been issued. Bellows said that applications may be denied at any time if the proposed country is deemed unsafe. Earlier this semester, OIP canceled programs to Lebanon and Israel due to the ongoing conflict in the region.

Bellows said that Georgetown has an obligation to inform students when the U.S. government deems certain countries unsafe.

“If we don’t do that, we’d be neglectful,” she said.

Andrew Farrand (SFS ’07) said that although he spent the summer before his junior year studying Arabic in Syria at the University of Damascus, he had never considered studying there junior year. Syria is one of over 30 countries with an outstanding travel warning. Instead, Farrand said that he chose to study in Amman, Jordan last fall in a program run by the Council on International Educational Exchange.

Farrand said that he wanted to go somewhere different than a typical destination in the Middle East like the American University in Cairo.

“There are lots of Georgetown students [at AUC] and I’d thought that would detract from the cultural experience,” he said.

Farrand said that he’d talked with OIP Deputy Director Lori Citti about his reservations, and she helped him apply to the Jordan program.

“OIP was receptive to the idea, at least in principle, of going to places other than where they had programs,” he said.

While Laputz and Ferrand chose to pursue alternative study abroad programs through the university, Minoo Ravazi (SFS ’09) decided to make her own education arrangements in a foreign country.

While visiting relatives in Iran, Ravazi ended up staying longer than anticipated.

Taking a leave of absence from Georgetown to remain in the country, she worked as an English teacher before enrolling as a law student at the National University of Iran in Tehran. Although she had visited Iran many times, Ravazi said that she had never lived or studied there.

“It was so much to learn about something I thought I knew,” Razavi said.

She said that she was once barred from the university for a week after the Islamic police arbitrarily decided her veil was not concealing enough.

“Once the Islamic police say something, nobody can stand in their way,” she said. “It’s very disheartening.”

Razavi said that one of her professors nearly failed her because she expressed surprise when he denied that the Holocaust took place.

Still, Razavi added that she met many Iranians who were very interested in American culture and followed American shows and movies on satellite television.

“Travel is a very important aspect of education,” she said. “It adds a lot to your personal growth that you can never get from books.”