Why Studying Abroad is a Must by Roberta

Why Studying Abroad is a Must by Roberta - March 2016 Scholarship Essay

If it were possible, all college students should be required to study abroad for at least a semester during their college years. The education one receives from experiencing another culture is priceless and absolutely can not be taught through books or by sitting in a classroom.
When a person has to muddle through another system of education and another culture, they grow in ways they never would have if they just stayed in one place. By having to learn another language and culture, one is stretched beyond their wildest imagination and they realize the world is a much bigger place than they ever realized. When a person is exposed to other people who have lived very different lives, it opens their eyes to see the bigger picture - everyone is NOT just like us. It was once said to me by a foreign neighbor, "Every language/culture learned is another life lived." I couldn't agree more. I was an exchange student to England in college, and even though English was the common language, we still spoke different languages! I met people from very different walks of life than I had come from. I learned to navigate an educational system totally different from the American one in which I was familiar. Our children went to school in Europe for two years and they have experience beyond their years. They were exposed to people with double mother tongues, or people who had lived in multiple foreign countries. They learned to look at the world and the people in it with very different eyes. If it could be possible, I think every person would benefit in immeasurable ways if they got to experience life from another perspective. I would push for study abroad to be an required piece of one's college education.The personal growth from such an experience is remarkable. One learns what they are really made of when all that they know and take comfort in is taken away and they are forced to learn to live in another way and with other people. That kind of learning doesn't come from a book; it comes from experience!