The Heart of Life by Shadiah

The Heart of Life by Shadiah - March 2016 Scholarship Essay

As human beings, we have a sense of peace in repetition. Routine makes us feel secure and empowered, knowing what to expect from our surroundings each day. However, we also require stimulation. Sometimes, to escape a stressful routine, we take a vacation. In the midst of furthering their education to gain access to a career, many college students travel across the ocean to study abroad, but many do not. All college students should be required to study abroad because it provides the opportunity to experience unfamiliar aspects of life, and to find that at the very center, it is good.
"Studying abroad" is an inherently unequal term. Most people do not think about studying while they are abroad, yet when they arrive in another country, they still attend classes and complete their assignments like they would if they were at college. College students can work toward a degree the same way they would at home, which is a precious gift to travel somewhere new and still be able to advance academically.
However, college students would also find that in their free time, they are in a strange place, and not the campus or town they are used to. They may be afraid at first, but eventually curiosity will invade their minds, making them wonder about their new home. Whether they came with friends or alone to that foreign place, they will want to explore and learn about Belfast, Munich, Perth, Osaka, Pisa, Barcelona, or whichever grand city they chose to study abroad in.
Studying abroad would teach college students about cultures other than their own. They would meet new, unique people with different stories and perspectives to share, and perhaps college students would be able to laugh at themselves and the stereotypes of different countries. They would develop relationships that can't be severed by any body of water, and be humbled by the size of the world they live in.
If every college student was required to study abroad, they would return home more knowledgeable about themselves and more prepared to face life, knowing it can be complicated, but also that they had an experience no one else could tell about. Because of this, the people they met, and the different aspects of life that they saw, college students would take the next step with purpose and hope. John Mayer once said in his song, "No, it won't all go the way it should/ But I know the heart of life is good." All college students should be required to study abroad because it provides the opportunity for them to experience life different from the way they have in the past, and to find that despite the bad they may see, no matter where in the world they go, the heart of life is good.