Enlightened Leaders by Hannah

Enlightened Leaders by Hannah - March 2016 Scholarship Essay

Students should study abroad not only to experience the world but to bring educational insights back to the United States.. Different environments and cultures around the world offer immense opportunities for our students to enhance their education, and to make them more than viable in the workforce when they return home. Many students pass up studying abroad due to extensive costs on top of the rising prices of a post-secondary education. Although if studying abroad was a required adventure to graduate I believe more students would jump at the opportunity.
From the point of view of a student that has seen different countries around the world and been engulfed by numerous cultures, I can attest to that importance of world travel as a young adult. Most students take their education for granted; as did I until I left the comfort of my own state, my own country and was given the opportunity to see how other demographics in the world treat education. I flew to San Ignacio Belize where education is not stressed when the children are young and most of the curriculum learned during the school year is quickly forgotten once summer arrives.
In Third World countries like the ones I have visited, the main worry of the family is where the next meal is coming from not whether their son or daughter understands multiplication tables. It broke my heart and left me in awe to learn that most of the children never advance pass the fifth grade. And if by chance the child has the determination and drive to graduate from high school most families don't have adequate resources to place the child in a college setting because the closest university is located in Panama.
In the short time that I have in such countries, I gained more wisdom and maturity than I ever could had If I never extended past my comfort zone. The upcoming college students are the leaders of tomorrow's society, I don't see a better way to prepare future leaders than to have them purse world studies. I believe that students should be required to study abroad to not only add to their own personal stories but to impart wisdom on another part or the world.