Okay I’ll admit it, I’m not Lewis or Clark. But I have visited a fair amount of places in my 19 years of life, and I can say whole-heartedly that each experience in a new place has altered my way of thinking, little by little.

Luckily for me, and other BU students like me, Baker is on the verge of requiring international travel or an intercultural experience under the Quest program.

While the details are not final, the gist of it is that a travel Interterm or approved “intercultural experiences” will be required.

Right now, not all students take advantage of BU’s travel opportunities, perhaps because of monetary or personal costs. By making it mandatory, BU is forcing students out of their comfort zones.

I don’t know what the faculty’s reasoning is for this decree, but I agree 100 percent.

College is that time in our lives when we are supposed to broaden our horizons and learn new things. And while textbook learning is all fine when we are talking about quantum physics, there is something different about what professor of business and economics Lee Green calls “experiential learning.”

In a conversation I had with Green, we talked about what it’s like to immerse oneself in a different culture and almost, in some sense, become a part of it for some time.

In our interconnected society, learning about the way another society functions not only gives you new ideas; it makes you question the social reality you are a part of. It gives you a new perspective of looking at things that a classroom cannot.

Stepping out of one’s comfort zone also makes for a more knowledgeable, independent and well-rounded person. And with Baker implementing this new rule, its students will hopefully be coming out of the deal with more career-worthy traits and, at the very least, interesting stories to talk about.

Another bonus of BU making it a priority is that the college will (or at least should) cover some of the costs that it would take to provide these experiences for students.

My hope with this program is that students will still look at is an opportunity, rather than a chore. There is much to be learned and experienced when travelling to another country, and when syllabi are involved, students are less likely to be keyed up about the whole thing. But it should be remembered that education, especially education in another place, is a privilege not a right.