Why studying abroad should not be a requirement for college students by Molly

Why studying abroad should not be a requirement for college students by Molly - March 2016 Scholarship Essay

Studying abroad can give students an incredible opportunity of learning and diversifying what they know about the world. Although studying abroad can give students this opportunity, not all college students should be required to do it. College students should not be required to study abroad because it is an issue of being comfortable and an issue of money.
Studying abroad requires a lot of commitment to a new environment of learning. In order to be fully committed to this type of study one must be comfortable with putting themselves out there in the world. College is considered the time where most people find themselves, and during college there are quite a few people who are not comfortable with new experiences. If they are not comfortable in new experiences they would not be able to focus during their time abroad. This is a problem because they wouldn’t learn anything and if they do they would not retain much of the information that was thrown their way. Not being able to learn because one is so uncomfortable is not only discouraging but a complete waste of time and money.
Money is another reason studying abroad should not be required for college students. There are so many people who are not able to afford college that they miss out on the experience of higher education. College is a very expensive institution and can be quite overwhelming when the actual expenses are revealed to someone. With that being said, if studying abroad were placed as a requirement for college students many more people would not attend. Adding an extra cost for something that some people wouldn’t even want to do on top of the already expensive college life would push people away from attending. While the intention of giving students a better world view and a more diverse form of education is very thoughtful, the cost of all of it would not allow some people an opportunity to go to school at all.
It is true that the experience to travel for education would allow both an eye-opening experience to students and a deeper meaning to schooling. But, money and feeling comfortable in a new environment are two issues that should be considered in why studying abroad should not be a requirement for college students. Studying abroad would be an inconvenience to people of low income and to every college student who is still trying to find themselves in order to be comfortable in different social settings.