Many college and university students often live on campus and proceed with their educational careers at the same campus. However, some students take the opportunity of studying abroad, and generally have a positive experience while abroad. Colleges and universities should require their students to spend at least one semester studying abroad due to the change in educational environment it will provide, change in scenery whilst studying, and the ability to learn new skills that students would not be able to learn whilst on their campus.
Students who travel abroad will essentially have the same curriculum that they have on campus, so why would it be beneficial to send them to a different country? Students who study in a foreign country are exposed in a new learning environment, which provides a new and refreshing place to continue their education. Essentially, it is a brand new campus in which they would be interested in studying at, as opposed to repeating the same daily routines in which they had on their campus. Studying in a foreign country would also prove to be beneficial to the educational experience since it allows students to integrate different ways to learn. For example, if one of the classes the students was taking was based on community health, the curriculum could integrate a project in which the students would be able to interact with different communities in the area, giving a hands-on educational experience with a community outside of what they are used to.
On the topic of being outside where they are used to, studying abroad also allows students to learn more than just educational skills, as they are forced to adapt to a new surrounding. For starters, they would have to learn a new language to be able to communicate with the local population. Additionally, first-world countries have become extremely reliant on technology in their everyday lives. If the student were to study in a second or third-world country, they would learn to do tasks without the convenience of technology being integrated in their routines.
If studying in a foreign country for a semester is mandated in colleges and universities, students will be offered an experience that will surely be beneficial to their educational careers. After all, students who have already studied in a foreign country have shown positive results. The student is exposed to a new educational environment in which they are able to have a new, refreshing learning environment. They would also be able to interact with a community different from what they are used to in their everyday routine. Lastly, living in a different country while studying would allow the student to learn more than what they learn in their classes. They would be able to learn a new language, adapt to a new surroundings, and perhaps even learn to live without the convenience of technology.