Study Abroad or Bust by Nicole

Study Abroad or Bust by Nicole - March 2016 Scholarship Essay

As of 2014, only 304,467 college students United States studied abroad, this equates to about 1.5% of all U.S. students enrolled in higher education institutes. It is sad to think that this number is up 5.2% from the year before! I believe that all college students should be required to study abroad throughout their time in school. By studying abroad students are able to see the world, learn about new cultures, and develop who they are.
With studying abroad students are able to go out and see the world. This is important because who knows if the students will ever have a chance like this again due to their busy upcoming lives such as entering their careers and possibly even parenthood. By encouraging students to venture out and travel to a new place, all while learning, the students will be able to experience a brand new country with new customs, exercises, and beliefs. Along with the new knowledge of the land students will be able to see famous areas and landmarks that some people can only dream of such as the Eiffel Tower all light up at night, the Egyptian pyramids of Giza still standing after all this time, and imagine seeing the vibrant colors and intriguing shapes that were artfully put together to create St. Basil’s Cathedral in Russia. While seeing the land of your host nation one might also be able to venture out to see the neighboring countries and the beauty they hold. This is why seeing the world would be an added bonus of studying abroad.
The best way of learning about a new culture and the daily lives of those in that said culture is to fully submerge ourselves in it. Studying abroad gives many students this opportunity. Being in a new country will allow our nation’s future leaders to have a better understanding of how the world works and how our nation is in relation to those around us. One of the biggest benefits of learning about a new culture is the appreciation it instills in us about how our country works compared to others. While students are away in a new nation one might learn to love an aspect of our nation that they took for granted before. For example, missing the bumper to bumper traffic during rush hour because in poverty stricken nations, citizens would kill to be in traffic on their way home from a job meaning they had a job to support their family. While studying abroad our students would be able to learn a completely new way of life. In the end, studying abroad will help our citizens learn more about other cultures’ beliefs and ways of life. The new ways of life could then be brought back to the United States to improve our existing nation.
We can test how strong our future leaders are by placing them into another country which gives them the opportunity and chance to truly develop who they are and who they want to be. By placing students in another country, they will be forced to assimilate themselves fully into the culture and ways of the land. By becoming one with the new land, our students will be able to better problem solve in tough situations and have more respect for their host nation. Being in a foreign land will allow us to gain knowledge about the host nation while simultaneously helping us discovering who we really are. Finding our own independent nature while studying abroad is an excellent example of why all college students should partake in such activities.
Overall, studying abroad is so much more than just getting to travel while in school. It gives the opportunity to see the world in person, learn about new cultures, and even allowing our students to discover who they truly are. We, as a nation, should promote studying abroad so that we can imprve our nation for our future generations.