But Cabot House Master Jay M. Harris says he thought that greater numbers of students studying abroad may force Houses to open their doors to more transfer and visiting students in order to meet expenses—which will “change the dynamic quite a bit.”

Duru says that when she returned from Ghana in fall 2003, she at first “felt lost” and uninterested in Harvard’s extracurricular and social life.

“Somehow after my experiences abroad, it wasn’t as important to me as before and I became just a bit marginalized from the Harvard community at large,” she writes, adding that she has since become more involved again.

Palfrey, whose children all studied abroad during their college years, says that a sense of disorientation is probably inevitable after students spend a semester in a foreign culture.

“You do adjust your priorities to some degree,” he says. So long as Harvard’s study abroad priority moves slowly, Palfrey says, the College is likely to be able to make adjustments as well.

Duru sums up the College’s new attitude toward study abroad, saying, “You have four years at Harvard. Why spend them all in Harvard Square?”

—Staff writer Sara E. Polsky can be reached at polsky@fas.harvard.edu.