Most study-abroad programs should be renamed "party abroad": they are a waste of time and money

Thank you for coming to tonight's debate. I hope to regale you with arguments and counter-arguments so that you will find this debate interesting and participate in the voting process.I don't care whether study abroad programs are called "study abroad" or "party abroad." What I'm going to argue is that regardless of what they are called, they are not a waste of time and money.First I will present my own case; then I will respond to my opponent's case.In the Nicomachean Ethics, Book 1, Aristotle argued that the ultimate end in everything we do is happiness. We do not pursue happiness for some other end; rather happiness is an end in itself. It is the ultimate goal of life. Everything else we do is a means to that end.[1] Whether, then, anything is worth spending time or money on depends on whether or not it promotes happiness. An activity is only a waste of time or money if it does not promote happiness. As long as it does promote happiness, it is not a waste of time or money.With that in mind, there are three reasons I think studying abroad is not a waste of time and money.1) People who go abroad to study end up partying. Anybody who has partied knows that it is a supremely enjoyable thing to do which produces happiness, not only for the moment, but also for the rest of one's life as one reflects on the memory of how much fun they had and tell stories about it. Partying is a very effective means to happiness.2) People who go abroad to study end up feeling quite a bit of freedom since they don't have to worry about being scolded by their parents because of their pursuit of happiness. Freedom is such an effective means of producing happiness that people have risked their lives for it. They have fought for it, created nations around it, and formed governments to protect it. Freedom is a very effective means to happiness.3) People who go abroad to study end up making new friends and spending a lot of time with them. As many sociological and psychological researchers have found, friendship is vital for happiness and well-being.[2] Friendship greatly enhance's a person's emotional well-being, which can even be more important than IQ for promoting a successful life.[3] Friendship enriches life, gives it flavor, and makes it worth living. People who enjoy close friendship have better physical health and live longer. Friendship enhances our happiness more than anything else in life.My opponent, interestingly enough, thinks partying, freedom, and friendship are what make studying abroad a waste of time and money. His argument fails for the simple reason that he hasn't told us why partying, freedom, and friendship are a waste of time and money. He simply asserts it. To make his argument go through, he needs to do one of two things: either (1) show that partying, freedom, and friendship do not enhance happiness, or (2) show that the pursuit of happiness is not the ultimate goal in life or a goal that is worth persuing. He also needs to respond to my arguments since I have argued that partying, freedom, and friendship are not a waste of time and money.My oppoent also thinks studying abroad is a waste of time and money because people who study abroad don't make good grades. But making good grades is not the point of studying abroad. Indeed, the vast majority of people who study abroad do so only for one year, and their grades are not transferrable. My sister went to Belgium as an exchange student for one year after graduating from high school in America. While she was in Belgium, she attended high school there. But since she had already graduated high school, and since nothing she did in Belgium was transferable to college in the US, it didn't matter whether she made good grades or bad grades. So if it happens to be true that people who study abroad make bad grades, that does not make studying abroad a waste of time and money. Or, if it does, it would be just as much a waste of time and money if they went abroad and made good grades. Neither matters because the goal of studying abroad is to broaden your horizons, give you new experiences, etc. These things enrich your life and promote your happiness, so studying abroad is certainly not a waste of time and money. [1] Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, http://classics.mit.edu... [2] Jane Collingwood, "The Importance of Friendship," http://psychcentral.com... [3] Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence, http://www.amazon.com...