Required: Money by Karen

Required: Money by Karen - March 2016 Scholarship Essay

Studying abroad is a unique experience most students cannot afford. Making it a mandatory requirement to study abroad would place even more stress about finances on students than they are already experiencing. I would love to study abroad, even just to study in New York compared to Arizona would be a dream come true. However, money is everything in this world. I would like to see a system where if a course is required then it should be covered in the cost of tuition, while those classes that are based on choice be given a higher fee. This includes books and supplies. Studying abroad would fall into this category. If it would be required then it would have to fall under the main tuition guidelines. As well, studying abroad should be more than just one class. If a student is going to Spain to study abroad for a Spanish class, they should also get credit for diversity and other courses, such as world economics. This would limit complaints that studying abroad is a luxury, simply because, it is a luxury at this point in time.
I would love to travel abroad for my degree of creative writing, and to experience the world would be a dream come true. This would be fuel for my creative juices, however it is not a requirement, and my chances of affording this luxury are zero to nil. Financial Aid does not cover luxuries. I was given the opportunity to study in Spain for the summer, however the price of the tuition not counting living money, was so outrageous, I immediately dismissed the possibility. Do I still want to do it? Yes, unequivocally. However, at this point in time, I cannot. Maybe once I graduate school and am employed with a good company I might get the opportunity to travel, however I will always look back and wish I had done it while I was given the chance.
This allows me to look back and remember the sixth grade trip to Washington D.C. that I wanted to go on, I was desperate to go, but my family could not raise the money for me to go. I was devastated. To this day, I resent the fact that I couldn’t go. Now I look back and realize this is going to be the way of things until we get our financial situations in this country corrected, and then yes studying abroad could become a requirement, when all the students can afford it.