The Road to Another Realm by Haya

The Road to Another Realm by Haya - March 2016 Scholarship Essay

To study abroad means to embark on a journey unlike any other, to travel to a world unlike their own, to merge into a society where nothing is as it seems. In short, studying abroad is the exchange of people, communication, and learning by transcending the borders of one’s own country. When a college student is pushed out of their comfort zone and placed on foreign soil, it forces them to witness another culture, language, environment, and of course, and whole new education system.
Some people worldwide are often hesitant to send their children off to another country to study, the biggest reason being expense. Studying abroad is no walk in the park where it concerns cost. It depends on the country, but one semester abroad could cost as much as $7000. Another reason is fear of change. Education up till college has always been constant and experiences such going off to a world unlike their own may scare them away. These are the barriers that stop many college students.
For that reason, colleges and universities should make studying abroad more accessible to their students as well as educate them on the advantages of doing so. Students today often lack the international experience and cross-cultural communication skills necessary to succeed in their futures.
There are many arguments for the approval of studying abroad. For one, it allows future leaders in all areas to address urgent matters shared across borders. It gets rid of the international experience gap where our current college students are concerned. It also teaches tolerance and opens one’s eyes to diversity and difference of opinion.
C. Wright Mills was obviously onto something when he defined sociological imagination as "the vivid awareness of the relationship between personal experience and the wider society.” College students will be able to harness their sociological imagination when they recognize and dismiss stereotypes and diversity first hand.
No country has exactly the same rules and regulations. If college students aren’t able to see this for themselves, the amount of narrow-minded, shallow, and uneducated students has an even greater chance of increase. Stereotypes exist everywhere, whether we like it or not, and if there is a way we can suppress them, colleges and universities should take it upon themselves to fix it for the better.
College students should definitely be required to study abroad. It’s the perfect opportunity to broaden their horizons and to lead them down the path to a brand new realm.