After reading the general description of the Senator Paul Simon Foundation Study Abroad Act, I have to admit that I’m very impressed that our congress is taking steps to simplify American students to study throughout the world. In my opinion, knowledge of our world is imperative to students now more than ever, and as our generation begins to work it’s way into the leadership positions of this country, experience abroad will be a defining characteristic of a well-qualified individual.
As a country, throughout the last sixty years we have been struggling to undergo the great change from being an isolationist nation to the most influential country in the world. It’s a task that’s not easy, as one can still see today the effects of our ignorance of the world outside our borders. The proposed Study Abroad Act promises a step in the right direction to form a generation that is informed and involved in the world, allowing a more peaceful future.
When I was studying in Europe, most of the foreign students that I knew were studying through the Erasmus program, a program that is aimed at promoting academic mobility of students and teachers throughout the European Union and other European countries. For many students that I met, it’s an academic requirement to spend up to a year in a foreign country. The Erasmus program has become a sort of cultural phenomenon in Europe, as many students are living in a foreign country for the first time and forging bonds with other students from around the world. The proposed Study Abroad Act seems to me a step towards creating a program similar to the Erasmus program, though on a worldwide scale.
Hopefully, the Act will facilitate studying around the world, especially financially. In the United States, the price of even a state school is outrageous compared to universities around the world, though the level of quality is high. With the price of tuition added to the cost of the study abroad programs, it’s very difficult for a student to fund a program, and although there are scholarships available, they’re limited. Another problem I found, at least with my program, was that students who were not some sort of language, literature, or history major posed a problem when it came to finding classes and transferring credit. When I went to France through SUNY Cortland, I was assumed to be taking all French language and literature courses with maybe some random electives. After finding out I was a physics major, it was a struggle to get me enrolled in regular physics and math classes, which I ended up not receiving credit for. Though it is an excellent experience, for many majors apart from languages and literature, a stay abroad at the moment is academically useless unless one manages to find an appropriate program, which in my case were few and far between in the country I chose. Another step this Act must take is to be able to diversify the disciplines one is able to study while abroad.
I believe that this act is an excellent opportunity for our country to retake a respectful position in the world today. The knowledge one gains abroad of other cultures, languages, and manners of living is easily applied to life at home, and as our generation matures into the leaders of this country, hopefully this knowledge will seep into our country’s policies abroad, allowing us to make better decisions in the global community.