Studying abroad, the new college investment by mary

Studying abroad, the new college investment by mary - March 2016 Scholarship Essay

In certain countries abroad, for example, Australia and England, it is seen as a mere common practice to take a “gap year.” A gap year is when high school students freshly graduated decide to take a year off rather than starting college very soon after as it is a common practice in America. During this year off, most of the time these students will study abroad with reasons varying. Some examples I have incurred from meeting with these English or Australian students were that they were simply trying to explore what life has to offer and to learn new cultures or languages. Which then leads me to propose the topic question, should studying abroad be required?
I do believe it should be required, in this modern day and age, international business and or market is massively growing bigger and bigger. Not only that, more companies and employers are hiring employees who know either a second language or even more for international business. This is an advantage for American companies who are looking to hire more and more international employees to fill in the void of lack of diversity and to aid these companies in breaking into the international market. It is also beneficial to the employee who maybe after studying abroad wishes to live and work in that very country he or she studied in.
Employment advantages aside, it simply is an out of world experience. Most high school students simply do not have the time or money to be able to vacation out of country. In 2009, according to Huffingtonpost a rough estimate of 10% of Americans traveled out of the United States, however half of that percentage was due to business trips. Although there is exuberate amounts of diversity in America already, it does not beat learning and immersing one’s self into a culture that one was not raised and bred in. This also helps learning a language and remembering this language long term painstakingly easier, because in order to survive and adapt one must be able to learn to communicate with the locals of the chosen country.
There is cons however to making this a requirement. College in its own entity, is expensive for students or families anywhere. Now adding, a new financial component of requiring study abroad only makes Americans have to sell out thousands more to keep up with the new world standard. Many families or students get heavily in debt after college and studying abroad when one is not financially able to will just worsen the situation for these families who are in financial need.
In conclusion, if college is an investment for students so should studying abroad be an investment as well. Studying abroad, although expensive, is an experience that every student should be able to experience in their life. There is no other beauty than to be able to live and breathe in a culture that is not one’s own.