Benefits of Study Abroad

"Our trip was an experience of a lifetime!" (Christian Journey, 2010). A lot of students now are experiencing such a trip that they could pursue their dreams and higher life quality in a relatively advanced country, especially a country like the U.S. In the last twenty years, with an increasing number of international students coming to study in America, more people begin to realize the benefits brought by studying in America. However, some people argue that studying overseas can be very expensive, also it has a negative effect on the relationships between friends and families which would make the student feel isolated, increase the risk of suffering mental problems while I believe that the U.S would offer the most authoritative education, provide an environment to learn the most popular language-English- and make oneself more independent.

Those people opposing studying in America argue that studying and living abroad have a bad impact on the relationships between those students and their friends, lovers and family members. Although MSN or Skype can offer students the chance to see and talk with their friends, the problem is that those international students' schedule can hardly match with their families' because of time difference. Moreover, those students are living in a social circle quite different from their friends', thus reducing the topics for chatting. With a losing of old friends and also as a foreigner to a new environment, students studying in another country would easily feel isolated. They are likely to suffer from feeling homesick and loneliness which increases the probability of having problems mentally and physically, such as insomnia and melancholia. Last but not least, if studying in America is an investment for education and future career, it is unpredictable that the investments will pay off.

However, those disadvantages of studying in the U.S discussed above are just part of the truth. People supporting studying in America explain that if relationships can be weaken only because of the distance, it is not real love or real friendship which means it is not so worthy for you to treasure it. Richard Batch once said, "Can miles truly separate you from friends? If you want to be with someone you love, aren't you already there?"(B Richard, 1936) Second, studying and living abroad can be an undeniable challenge that not all people can overcome it during the years in another country, some succeed, and some suffer. It just functions like a griddle to select valuable hardest diamonds from a handful of loose sand. Those who can not endure hardships in life or who lack the ability to control themselves are unluckily filtered. Thirdly, every investment has a risk rate. People may lose more if they put money in stock market and investment in education is a long-term investment whose effect can not be recognized after years. So the fact is that studying here in the U.S. can offer students a better academic environment, a chance to learn a second language well and more opportunities to develop one 's self-personality.

It is now widely believed that U.S has the most authoritative education in the world. According to the research done by AIEF (American International Education Foundation), the United States produced most leaders in business, law and politics, for instance, Raul Ricardo Alfonsin, president of Argentina, Ernst Carl Julius Albrecht, Prime minister of Germany. The research listed a large number of leaders from different countries who have attended U.S. educational programs. So the first reason most people supporting studying in America is because they could have a larger opportunity to grab a promising career in the future because of the best education offered in the U.S.

Even though nowadays Chinese has the largest spoken population, English is the most popular one. According to my interview with Michael A. Brzezinski , the director of ISS, he said that those students who study abroad would have a greater chance to learn a different language. One student in the program said, "I feel that in today's business world the knowledge of other cultures and