Requirement to study abroad would limit family growth and college attendance by Bethany

Requirement to study abroad would limit family growth and college attendance by Bethany - March 2016 Scholarship Essay

Bethany Walton
3-11-16

Should all college students be required to study abroad?
No, I don’t believe that education should have such strict limits when it comes to requiring students to study abroad, especially when circumstances may arise with family needing that individual that is away. I think that when study abroad is optional, then of course you are not forced to go somewhere in the world like for instance, London, Italy or Germany. With the realization that we as students are not only just students but we belong to a family. We are here as families to help one another. I know that if you are on the other side of the world or in some far distant place, then you cannot be much use to someone in your family who all of a sudden may be in need of your help.
I think the purpose in life is not just to merely go about doing what you want to do, but also think about “others.” Maybe friends that count on you to be there for them if anything were to happen – emergency wise, or maybe just the comfort of knowing your only fifteen minutes away versus 1,000 miles away and in some foreign country. Even though studying abroad may have many benefits like broadening your perspective of life, through learning new cultures, making new friends and overall exploring the world by seeing new things, yet the full picture is just not complete.
Even though life may seem perfect and that seeing the world seems to be the answer right now, life tends to send curve balls. Meaning things tend to happen sometimes when you least expect them, and sometimes when you had already made other plans for your future. I think that’s why we are divided into families so that there is delegation; an order to things, a backup system if something gets disarray. For example, say you are the only college student in your family and there are other members to help care for one another. There is still no excuse as a family member to neglect you responsibility to be there and to be a support.
Family is not just something that just happens to be something to come home to. It is a structure built to maintain order in the system. Something to count on, to help us learn, grow and feel complete. Needing one another emotionally, spiritually, physically and collectively to balance out who we are in perspective to who we should become. Giving credit to the fact that, yes going abroad is a great opportunity but not something so forcingly as to be required. If it were a requirement, I believe that many mothers, fathers and young college students would not be prepared to go. Mothers need to care for their children, fathers have jobs to go to help support their families and young college students are still developing emotionally to even feel prepared to go and they might end up getting into mischief.
Overall I believe college opportunity will disappear for those individuals who have expected responsibilities to attend to, if expected to study abroad. College attendance will go down due to decrease in numbers enrolled due to such a strict policy of college students being required to study abroad. Then that in turn affects the society as a whole, because now there is no diversity in the work field, only those who had the opportunity to study abroad, which would be limited in individuals. I believe it is best that the system stay open to individuals with limited opportunity, so that they too can have education and growth and progress in their lives for advancement.