Ed-Venture by Rose

Ed-Venture by Rose - September 2018 Scholarship Essay

I envision myself in traveling shoes, holding a map, plotting my next move as I venture and learn until my vacation is up. Traveling has always been a dream of mine, especially to places such as Australia, Japan, and Korea, and different states within the United States. Growing up, it always seemed impossible to travel since I never really stepped foot out of the state, let alone out of my house from time to time—and I’m almost eighteen. I, as the oldest of eight children, and most likely the first to attend college in my family, place pressure and hope on myself to do better academically. Traveling is to explore and delve into different environments, learning more about the world from different perspectives. I've always been fascinated by what it means to experience culture shock and how different places of the world operate.

While I travel, I will being learning about the historical context of upbringing and the culture of the places I would visit, as any tourist would. I also have a knack for picking up languages. I’m bilingual, having Hmong as my mother tongue and English as I grew up. I’ve been taking Japanese since I’ve entered high school, understanding the language, good enough to not get lost and communicate. I also have a friend who’s been teaching me Korean for a year and another friend who will be teaching me Spanish. This means I will have about five language tools I can use to better understand where I am going and how to navigate around. I plan to travel to a lot of places, and given that 25 years from now is a long time, I know I will have that opportunity.

Growing up, I had exposure to the pop culture of Japan. It was when I began taking classes, was when I learned more than the pop culture. The history of Japan, the traditions, the issues, and especially the cuisines; they all sum up the area as a whole. One day when I was studying the Ehime prefecture, a cat island (Aoshima) popped up as a tourist site. There are interesting places like these, that can’t be found where I live. That is why I want to have the real experience and I want to know more, about Japan, about all the places I want to travel to.

I know for sure that my knowledge will expand by immersing myself into languages and by traveling to get a full grasp of the cultures and people of different places. I believe that being present to the place, respecting the culture and learning the ways of other cultures when visiting not only shows respect, it also illustrates my deep interest of wanting to know more than just sightseeing. There are many places I would love to visit, so undoubtedly, I will stay eager to continue learning languages. It’s relevance in understanding and the consistent of usage will further my learning and help me see the world form not only my perspective, but through the other perspectives of different people. Traveling, language learning, and to understand the lives of others will benefit everyone to become more open minded.. We need to talk, to question, to learn. This is how I see my future.