Current Status of Feature Article

So far I've made good progress on my feature article. The trend I am investigating is studying abroad, and whether it has become a semester-long vacation for college students rather than an academic opportunity. I have interviewed students of all different types: boys, girls, students from Lehigh as well as students from other schools, students who studied abroad in various countries, students who went abroad for a summer, for a semester, and for a year, and students who went abroad for different reasons (internship experience, cultural exploration, language acquisition, enjoyment). I have also consulted with the study abroad office, study abroad offices from other schools and college counselors, all who have given me great feedback about trends and statistics of students going abroad nowadays. I began my article thinking I would come to a general consensus at the end about students nowadays studying abroad for pleasure, as opposed to educational reasons. As I researched however, I ended up not being able to generalize this at all. From the students, parents, and counselors I talked to, I gathered a wide range of reasons, aside from enjoyment, about why students were increasingly traveling abroad. Therefore I'm changing the direction of my article ever so slightly to make the focus more general, so that it encompasses all of the reasons why students are going abroad today (I am no longer focusing on just the enjoyment aspect). Overall I am happy with the progress of my article!