ST PETER — London’s got the big clock, the queen and the castle, and loads of people wild about soccer. Paris has food, berets and that museum with all the masterpieces.

But when it comes to studying abroad, Malika Heiller wanted something a little more meaningful, something “off the beaten path,” something that wouldn’t be as easy or as comfortable as a country very much used to American tourists.

So instead of heading to Europe, she did what more and more college students are doing with their study abroad experience: finding locations that are more exotic — or at least nontraditional.

Heiller sent four months in Morocco and four months in India.

“Everything I’ve seen has changed my life,” the Gustavus Adolphus College junior said.

Across the board, study abroad trips to traditional locations such as Italy or Australia remain popular. Gustavus students in increasing numbers, however, are choosing adventure and unknown over comfort and familiarity.

“Students are becoming more aware of a larger world, and the old notion of the junior year in Paris is finally out of this generation’s memory,” says Patrick Quade, interim director of International Education at Gustavus. “This generation is far more interested in locations and destinations that give them a glimpse of a culture they’re not accustomed to.”

At look at statistics from the Institution for International Education, Quade says, shows a shift to non-western destinations that started about 10 years ago and has kept growing.

And it’s not just private colleges. At Minnesota State University, the vast majority of students are choosing traditional locations, especially Australia. But there have always been students, says Study Abroad Coordinator Margie Larson, who have chosen unusual locations, such as the Czech Republic, South Africa and Estonia.

Heiller can easily be included in that category.

Heading to Morocco was, for Heiller, sort of a trip of destiny. Her father — who died unexpectedly in January — lived in Morocco for two years while serving in the Peace Corps.

She spent half the academic year there, and the other half in India.

In Morocco, the culture was drastically different than what she was used to in Minnesota.

“It was hard in the beginning,” said Heiller, whose time in Morocco was spent being one of the few blond and fair-skinned people around. “Walking down the street I’d get people flirting or cat calls. I’ve never had that here living in a small town.”

She wanted something authentic, and something she wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else. She didn’t want her study abroad experience to be ordinary.

“I just feel like there will be so many other opportunities for me to go to London or Paris,” Heiller said. “I want to really experience what it’s like to live there, and I feel like I did that a lot. Much more so in Morocco.”

In Morocco she lived with a family that didn’t speak English. Instead they spoke Arabic, which gave her a chance to practice her Arabic skills.

Gustavus student Erin Luhmann visited Thailand recently. It was a J-term that almost didn’t happen for her.

She was on a waiting list for the Thailand trip. And when there was a non-violent coup, a handful of students pulled out of the trip. A space was then open for Luhmann.

The political strife there didn’t bother her.

“I wanted to go somewhere where we were really out of our element,” she said. “I don’t know if I’d do something this extreme on my own.”

Luhmann said she’s not surprised more students are heading overseas for more nontraditional study abroad experiences.

“I think my generation is more adventurous and outgoing,” she said.

For now, she’s done with overseas travel. She wants to spend her senior year on campus with her friends. After graduation, however, she plans to head far away again. Like Heiller, Luhmann plans to join the Peace Corps. Why?

Partly to postpone having to get a real job, she says. But it’s also about helping other people. Plus, “It’s a good time to find yourself,” she said.

Quade says there may be several factors pushing students to more non-traditional study abroad locales.

Current events, of course, is one. With the 24-hour news cycle and with 9/11 prompting more coverage of issues in the Middle East, more students are aware that life exists in parts of the world previously untouched, for the most part, by the study abroad experience.

Also, Quade says students are showing up to Gustavus having been exposed to more diversity in literature during high school, and civics classes are doing a better job of teaching students about world events, and the students’ place in the world.

“They realize more than ever that they don’t live in an isolated world,” Quade said. “Some come back and say it transformed their life.”

And some students, Quade said, return from a study abroad experience saying they’d like to devote their lives and careers to service.

“They have changed when they come back in the sense that their world and their career possibilities have expanded right along with their awareness that there is a bigger world.”

Gustavus ranks 17th in the nation among baccalaureate undergraduate institutions in the number of students that study abroad. Each year, between 250 and 300 students spend their J-term abroad. Another 150 will spend either one semester or an entire academic year abroad.

Heiller says the experience was invaluable, and full of the kind of memories that are life-changing.

She remembers a woman in India who said something that made her think.

“She said to me, ‘Every year you Americans come here, and every year you say you’re going to help us, and you never help us. So what are you going to do to help us?’” Heiller said. She told the woman she and others go back, talk about what they’ve seen and raise awareness.

She hopes more people will choose to visit countries such as India or Morocco. She hopes people will take the time to learn about other cultures.

Said Heiller, “What if we all went and all of us learned so much and had our lives changed and tried to make a difference?”