Study Abroad

When people take a walk around my college campus, I guarantee that they will see students passing by with all kinds of skin colors and hear different languages. The proportion of international students in college has dramatically increased in recent years. Studying abroad seems to be a more and more popular choice. The reasons encouraging students to make the decision to leave their motherland and set foot on a totally unfamiliar foreign land to start their study career are countless.
From my own experience, I know that most students will benefit greatly from a study abroad experience, because studying abroad enables students to experience a different culture and food, learn a foreign language, make friends with people from different backgrounds, be independent, and broaden their horizons. I probably could write down a whole page of benefits if I wanted to. Several advantages I will talk about here are the most prominent ones, based on my own experience.
Studying abroad forces me to be truly independent in my life. In the past, I had never been separated from my parents for over one month. But now, the fact is that I have to stay in the USA, where I have no relatives and friends, for five years. Before I came here, I had no worries at all about my life. I mean that my parents did almost everything they could for me–they decided which school I would attend, cooked for me, bought stuff I needed. One thing I can tell you frankly here, which you may feel surprised at, is that I had no bank account before I came to study in the USA. I opened my first bank account and learned how to write a check here in order to pay my tuition and fees on my own. Another thing is that I never cooked when I was living with my parents. Obviously, there was no need. After coming here, I sometimes miss the food in my hometown a lot, because Americans love cheese and raw vegetables, while Chinese food never has cheese and we cook almost everything on our tables. I need to face the fact... [continues]

Read full essay