Education abroad should be mandatory

American students think it’s a joke that there are several
McDonald’s restaurants in Paris. And in London and The Hague
and pretty much all over Europe. But what is often overlooked is
what the spread of the golden arches and pseudo-Quarter Pounders
really means.

“Globalization” is no longer a buzzword
strategically inserted into corporate speeches; it is now an
inescapable part of life on this planet. The world is shrinking;
people and nations are coming together quickly. Internet
technology, increased immigration and world organizations like the
European Union are making it undeniably important to understand who
our world neighbors are and to interact with them politically,
socially and, as the golden arches symbolize, on economic
levels.

Europeans play Britney Spears in their nightclubs and wear New
Balance and GAP to school because they are aware of American
culture and trends. Many of them speak several languages fluently
and grew up studying the nations surrounding their own.

The sad truth is that many American students speak only one
language fluently and are ignorant of cultural norms and religious
beliefs in other parts of the world. This ignorance leads to the
adoption of common stereotypes and the suppression of tolerant
attitudes because students haven’t learned to respect other
lifestyles.

As students, however, we have a way to reverse those
stereotypes. With the resources that universities provide for us,
we can study abroad. Because those resources do exist and because
our future relations with other countries depend on our
understanding of other governments and people, I insist that a
period of study abroad should be required of every student who
passes through the university system.

Traveling abroad is the most valuable way for an individual to
gain insight into a foreign culture, learn a new language, and
become familiar with customs and religious beliefs that differ from
their own. Time spent outside the United States should be a
required part of a higher education. It can help a student grow
much more than time spent in lectures or cramming for finals in
Powell Library.

This summer I studied in London, Brussels, Amsterdam and Paris
with a UCLA Summer Sessions program, taking two courses on Western
European politics and the European Union. While lectures and
studies often took a backseat to my exploration of Europe, I
realized that exploring was the point of studying abroad.

UCLA sends its students to foreign countries to learn outside
the classroom. I learned more about British parliament, Dutch
lifestyle and French dining customs than I ever could in Los
Angeles. The experiences I had in Europe helped me understand the
countries I visited. As a political science student, I now have a
better understanding with which to shape the judgments I make about
their governments, social policies and involvement in international
organizations.

Globalization demands that our future leaders be able to
cooperate and collaborate with other nations. UCLA Summer Sessions
and the Education Abroad Program give students the option to study
or intern around the world, but, in my opinion, do not do enough to
encourage students to get out of the United States and learn by
experience. Every student should be required to spend at least part
of a ten-week term abroad, either living with a host family or
traveling with a group of students and a professor.

Not only does time abroad broaden an individual’s world
perspective and enhance their personal life, it can also change the
future of world politics and prospects for international
cooperation. By studying abroad, students dispel stereotypes and
misconceptions; they learn new languages and familiarize themselves
with history and customs. Experience is the best teacher; there is
no better place to learn Chinese than in China and no better
country to study flamenco dancing than Spain.

So many of today’s conflicts originate from misconceptions
about religion, ethnicity or nationalistic dogma. Other conflicts,
such as ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia and the tension
between China and Taiwan, stem from the refusal to tolerate the
sovereignty of other cultures and peoples. Attacks on indigenous
tribes all over the world are also examples of intolerance.

When students experience other ways of life firsthand, they
learn to respect them and, hopefully, take the first step toward
cooperation among nations.

Doctors Without Borders is a good example of an organization
based on international cooperation. This French program consists of
a group of doctors and nurses from all over the world who migrate
to conflicted regions to assist the sick and injured. The program
did amazing work in Kosovo during the persecution of ethnic
Albanians. Organizations like this would be impossible without
cultural acceptance, language studies and a desire for peace and
well-being among nations. I maintain that these values can be best
learned by traveling abroad.

Several branches of the military require their members to serve
in another country. For example, some U.S. Marines tour in Okinawa,
Japan or the Persian Gulf. Serving in a foreign region not only
familiarizes Marines with a new part of the world, but it also
introduces them to the issues and tensions between these countries
and the United States, helping them understand cultural
differences. In the future, they are better prepared to handle
conflict and to facilitate cooperation in these regions. The same
is true for students.

In their continual search for funding, universities will claim
that sending every student abroad is entirely too expensive. The
university would have to provide professors to teach in other
countries, host families and/or lodgings, and a curriculum for
traveling students. However, I argue that the expense is well worth
the end result. Even if they do not study coursework involving
their major in another country, students who have traveled abroad
have a much better understanding of the world and are well-rounded,
knowledgeable individuals ““ people universities pride
themselves on producing. Also, students can pay travel expenses as
part of their tuition payments and exchange programs can be
arranged with foreign students to minimize costs. Financial aid and
scholarships for students studying abroad are also often
available.

Some may argue that language and cultural barriers may hamper
some students’ ability to learn and excel in a foreign
environment. But with preparatory coursework, students can learn
about the environment in which they will study to adapt quickly
when they arrive. The presence of professors familiar with the
country to be chaperones also helps students adjust.

All students should have the opportunity to study abroad and
should be required to do so. Increasing globalization means
students have to learn to function and succeed in a shrinking
world. Thus, studying other countries and their governments,
constitutions and languages is imperative not only for the purposes
of global competition, but also for cooperation. A university
should challenge its students to learn the best way ““ by
experience.