On Travel and Why Studying Abroud Should be Encouraged and Supported, but Not Required by Jonatha

On Travel and Why Studying Abroud Should be Encouraged and Supported, but Not Required by Jonatha - March 2016 Scholarship Essay

Travel is, undoubtedly, an enriching activity; A poet may even say it a remedy for certain maladies of the soul. It exposes one to the fantastic breadth and richness of human perspective. To the receptive, it can serve to cure the ills that fester in small-minded isolation. Further, as would be well recognized as much by a Christian pilgrim at to the holy sepulcher as a Muslim on Hajj, one's way of thought when far from home is itself far from one's way of thought when home, as travel is as much a transporting of the mind elsewhere as it is of the body.

With these wonderful, glowing things being said of travel, the notion that studying abroad, being a form of travel, is an activity of great benefit would seem to follow naturally; With such a sentiment, I would agree. However, what is asked is not if travel in general or studying abroad in particular is good, but if it ought be REQUIRED for any person who wishes to pursue anything beyond a general and, perhaps, professional education. It is in this one word, “required”, that arguments for travel begin to break down from so many perspectives.

First, I present the simple, mundane complaint that is still worthy of addressing: why should one need to travel when all one is trying to do is get a degree so that one can receive better pay? While the complaint is, itself, petty, it helps to illustrate a point: College is already stressful for those to whom it is a means to an end, and an abroad study requirement will do nothing to help this. Requiring travel, especially for those who see college merely as a practical matter, could very well sabotage its benefits.

More relevant to me personally, however, is that such a prescriptive measure serves as an affront to human dignity. Giving a requirement of studying abroad presupposes that there is something that is deeply, essentially wrong with all students that only travel can cure and that for their education to have worth, travel must be demanded of them. It is akin to the attempts in 2012 of the Portland city council to deal with the issue of widespread depression by lacing the drinking water with antidepressants. Something being required gives the implication that it is necessary, and travel, unlike calculus to a mathematics student or anatomy to a medical student, simply is not necessary.

More humane and less potentially stressful than demanding students study abroad is the, perhaps not-so-brave sounding option of more of the same. Studying abroad is already encouraged and supported both with educational materials and financial aid. Instead of implementing some well intentioned but deeply flawed plan to demand students study abroad, perhaps we should merely try to broaden opportunities to do so, and ensure that there is sufficient awareness of this that those that would be benefited by such opportunities may be.