This post was written by Diana Kugel, Opinions editor.

For GW students, the end of a semester always brings the usual onslaught of finals, papers and all-nighters. But it also brings an onslaught of jealousy as we bid farewell to friends who are destined to spend their spring semesters in some exotic locale, reachable only via Skype.

GW students love studying abroad, no question about that. GW comes in 27th in the nation for having the most students study abroad, and just this semester about 330 students are far away from Foggy Bottom. But what about everyone else?

I got my chance to go abroad last spring, when I spent a semester in Barcelona. It was such a worthwhile experience for me that I want all my friends to have the same opportunity. But when I ask people about their plans to go abroad, too often the answer is along the lines of “I wish I could, but my major just doesn’t work with it.”

Goucher College, located in Baltimore, Maryland, has recently taken a radical approach to making sure all students have a chance to go abroad. It’s mandatory. Yes, that’s right – in order to graduate, at least three of your credits must be earned abroad.

OK, so maybe not every single GW student wants to live in a different country for four months. Maybe mandatory isn’t exactly the way to go. But there is no field of study where one could not benefit from international exposure.

GW should work with major and minor requirements and with underclassmen academic advisors to ensure that no student is ever denied to chance to spend a semester abroad simply because it “doesn’t fit” into their four year plan. As clichéd as this sounds, we only get one shot at college – if you don’t go abroad now, then when?