Bringing it Home by Hannah

Bringing it Home by Hannah - March 2016 Scholarship Essay

Spending a year abroad in Japan was both the hardest and the most rewarding experience I have had in my life so far. It provided skills beyond just learning a new language and culture. Study Abroad provides the skills to be a team player in diverse and adverse environments, to be self-sufficient and independent in ways college does not encompass, and to become a well-rounded, ambitious individual.
My personal experience abroad taught me many skills, one of the most valuable of those being the ability to function and succeed in a vastly different environment with people whose socio-cultural background differs greatly with my own. Living in Japan for a year forced me to stretch my social skills in order to learn the language and culture as well as to stretch my “team spirit” in order to encompass my host family, my international friends, and my hosting Rotary club, all of whom I interacted with and learned from almost daily. In fact, I and other exchange students went on a weekend trip to a nearby temple to take part in a leadership camp, another perfect example of how the opportunities within a country can lead to some amazing, character-building experiences.
Living for a year in another country also taught me how to rely on myself in a foreign and sometimes adverse environment, an invaluable lesson which I will utilize for the rest of my life. Not matter what dream anyone decides to pursue, this lesson in self-reliance is one that can be used anywhere from the boardroom to the art studio. This is also a lesson that one will inevitably need within their daily life as well and while most can function on their own fairly well, taking back life skills from another country will open one’s eyes to a whole new way to live.
During my last few months in Japan I discovered something that Japan had awakened in me, that had been secretly working inside my mind before I even knew it was there: Ambition. Staying in Japan gave me motivation to follow my dreams in a way I’d never felt before. My time before Japan was characterized by me trying to work hard without knowing why or what I was working towards in the first place. My time during and after Japan I found myself filled with a passion for a rich variety of experiences in life and a newfound drive to follow my dreams. This kind of ambition is something that only studying abroad can give one because the diversity of experiences one has while in that foreign country opens one up to a world of opportunity and a whole new way of thinking that one would have never known previously.
Study abroad provides a wealth of opportunities which cannot be seen at face value but are worth so much more than the price of the plane ticket. The people out there that one may meet and come to love will stretch one’s way of thinking and will strengthen one’s ability to work with a diverse group of people who may have an entirely different mindset and upbringing. The experiences hidden under the umbrella of “study abroad” are vast and rich, if one is not learning about language or culture then one is inevitably learning a skill which can easily be translated to life back home. The culture and mindset of the country one may visit may also inspire a fire within oneself that will pave the way to their own personal dream, a dream now more easily achievable due to the lessons learned from living in another country.