A recent assignment here at The Press presented an opportunity to turn green with envy.

Last spring it was my good fortune to chat with Emmaus High School senior members of the school chorale, who had recently returned from travel to Italy to sing.

And sing they did. On a mountain top. On the streets of Rome. Aboard gondolas in Venice. At the Vatican.

Enthralled by stories of a three-course pizza meal and the Cinque Terre, a string of five seaside villages along the Italian Riviera, and a visit to the Spanish Steps, I was inspired again to think about traveling abroad.

Travel authority Rick Steves, host of the long-running television show "Rick Steves' Europe," emphasizes the importance of travel abroad for personal enrichment as well as national security. Steves sees travel, and study abroad if possible, as a necessity.

In an online article for USA Today, Steves writes, "We risk being left in the dust if we don't know how to effectively engage with the world."

Based on their stories of encounters with fellow tourists as well as local residents, the Emmaus High School students made some strides in world relations.

During impromptu concerts in public spaces such as the Spanish Steps, tourists asked for pictures with the singers and some people shot videos of the performances, according to the students. The group also performed in sacred spaces including churches and the Vatican. A performance in the courtyard of a music school attracted crowds. And a performance in late afternoon on a mountain in Tuscany moved listeners to silence.

"No one talked after we finished singing. Nobody made a sound for a long time," Rita Cortez, director of the chorale, said. "That was so special."

In November of 2014, the State Department and Department of Education joined forces to promote students visiting different parts of the world in International Education Week. Among the benefits of student travel are exploration, unique learning opportunities, personal development, intercultural communication skills and potential networking and career benefits.

However, with headlines so frequently filled with stories of war and terrorist attacks, refugees and migrants lost at sea and children braving border crossings in summer heat, travel by anyone, much less young people, seems risky to dangerous to prohibitive.

Should it be?

Judging by members of the Emmaus High School Chorale, the answer is no.

The wonders of their travel in Italy resonates with the student singers. Experiences such as walking through a private section of the Vatican en route to perform, spending nine hours in the Frankfurt Airport due to weather and singing in so many places have left many of those interviewed with a taste for more travel, perhaps in return trips to Italy, perhaps elsewhere.

They are not alone.

According to statistics released in 2012, more students worldwide are choosing to study abroad each year. About 40 years ago, less than a million students studied abroad throughout the world. By 2009 close to 4 million were studying abroad. The United States, England and China attract the majority of students worldwide.

In an article appearing in the Feb. 11 edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education, reporter Mary Beth Marklein writes about efforts by the Institute of International Education to recruit elementary and high school educators to get students interested in studying abroad in college. According to the IIE, 289,408 students from the United States studied abroad in 2012-13, a record. The IIE plan is to send 600,000 U.S. students abroad by 2019, the centennial year for the organization.

Perhaps some members of the Emmaus chorale will help the IIE to attain that goal.

"I had the best seafood I've ever had in my life there," said Kevyn McConlogue, an alto in the chorale.

Maybe she will return for seconds.

April Peterson

editorial assistant

East Penn Press

Salisbury Press