STUDY ABROAD

Studying Abroad - While studying abroad brings many benefits to individual students, it also has a number of disadvantages



Studying Abroad - While studying abroad brings many benefits to individual students, it also has a number of disadvantages

Introduction

Since times unknown, man has migrated leaving behind the comfort of his home, in quest of knowledge and education. Studying abroad has become a popular trend so much so that more and more students are looking for options to study abroad and prefer it over studying locally even when their own country has some of the best universities. It is famously known for the value it adds to a student's academic excellence as well as his prospects of landing up with some of the employers of choice in the respective field (Allan, 2002, p. 192). However, all the myths of wonders associated with the benefits of studying abroad are not true. In fact, some of them are farther from reality. In these times of economic distress studying abroad is pregnant with both advantages and disadvantages. The paper presents arguments both for and against studying abroad.

Discussion

Some of the demerits and merits of study abroad as given by the arguments of proponents and opponents are discussed hereunder.

Broader horizon

Studying abroad has many benefits for individuals in that it makes a person globally competent since children studying abroad enroll in colleges that promote talent diversity. This means that the child is competing with people with people belonging to different culture and religions and carrying various insights. This gives the students a renewed perspective in that they are able to look at a given situation from different point of views. This fosters a key quality in student whereby they are able to empathize with others and put themselves in another person's shoes to analyze a given set of circumstance. Their preconceived notions and the pre-held beliefs based on fundamental assumptions are challenges only to make them more insightful and intellectual (Tan, 2008, p. 2). This quality helps them not only in their personal grooming and thought process but also helps them in building successful personal and professional relationships. The horizon of such students is much larger than any students who have not had the same exposure or were limited to seeing things from one perspective only.

The opponents of studying abroad argue that while students may have a broader horizon while studying abroad, they may also be exposed to things that they are better off not knowing. This increases the probability of children going astray. The fragile and nimble minds of children are not in a position to differentiate between right and wrong and good and bad. Hence, they may fall prey to bad company and in an attempt to create memories for a lifetime, they may end up getting involved in activities which have a dead end associated with them (Byram, 2008, p. 28).

For instance, when children are studying while living at home or in the same city or country, they are under the ...