The Dark Side Of Studying Abroad by Cheyenne

The Dark Side Of Studying Abroad by Cheyenne - March 2016 Scholarship Essay

The Dark Side of Studying Abroad
To stand in firm affirmation of the topic “Should all college students be required to study abroad?” would be quite irrational. The key term in this topic is “required”, this is because there are complications that come with each student, whether it’s a disability, a disorder, or an impairment. Studying abroad interferes with each student in an emotional aspect. As of today abroad study is optional. The risks of studying abroad include; sudden injury, illness, natural disasters, sexual assault, and occasionally death.
The number of students that study abroad over the past year have risen by 1.3 percent. This may seem like a good idea that the percent has risen due to having a culturally diffused life style, but the risks run much higher. Some may attempt to argue that the risks aren’t a significant factor when deciding whether or not college students should be required to study abroad, but it needs to be considered that the Unites States does not have an embassy in every country. This causes the significance of the risks to increase. For example in 2013 many study abroad programs were cancelled and postponed due to political protesting and the potential danger in Egypt and Turkey. In 2007 evacuations from Ghana were required due to a deadly outbreak of salmonella. These students were one week away from finishing their trip abroad. Thus causing the college the burden of making those credits that the students still needed easily accessible. This also causes the question of whether or not the college was willing to give a full refund since the abroad program is quite costly. In the case of Ghana the college was willing to give partial money back and some credit due to loss of credit. Another incident occurred in Belize when a volunteer group offered to take a group of students out and they had spun out on a dirt road causing major injuries. In 2011 a student was evacuated from a university in Japan due to a natural disaster of an earthquake and a tsunami. Another incident that has the potential to occur while studying abroad is sexual assault: a topic most young adults, and most people in general, have an uneasy time talking about. It’s hard for those who are assaulted to take that step and tell, not only is it a hard element to experience, it’s even harder when someone is far from home and already feeling alone. In 2007 there were two incidents of sexual assault, one in Jamaica and one in Tanzania. The young woman studying in Jamaica was not only sexually assaulted but assaulted with a deadly weapon and robbed. Another student was sexually assaulted during her study abroad and cut her trip short in order to come home.
These types of incidents have the potential to happen anywhere and everywhere, but no matter the place it is all a matter of the detrimental effects on the brain. The brain is a sensitive organ, and the emotional instability instigated by sudden injury, illness, natural disasters, and sexual assault is detrimental to a young adult’s future. By requiring students, whether from the U.S or not, to study abroad is destructive tactic to induce a culturally diffused life style.