Colleges and universities should require their students to spend at least one semester studying in a foreign country.

In this era with rapid development in technology and overwhelming trend of globalization, no one can deny the significance of broadening one’s horizon by enriching his experience, especially those in distinct cultures. Thus, undertaking the higher education of most citizens, colleges and universities own the responsibility to provide students with the chance to study abroad, which tend to promote the development of themselves as well as the whole society. Yet considering various conditions of every individual, flexibility to certain extent is also needed.

In spite of some challenges one might meet while living in a foreign country, studying abroad is a strongly recommended way to provoke one’s potential and improve his comprehensive ability of dealing with different obstructions. Facing up to totally alien surroundings and education system, especially familiar ways of oral communication being cut, one would have no choice but to display his talent of expressing, comprehending and seeking for help. In this case, his resilience and courage are well exercised. On contrary, given no chance to tackle communicating and studying troubles, staying domestically deprives one’s opportunity to improve such personalities.

Moreover, studying in a foreign country provides one an excellent chance to broaden his horizon and therefore renew his perspective of life and the world around. As is known, “Seeing is believing.” On one side, seeing those people undergoing a miserable life reminds one how fortunate he is, and therefore to cherish everything he has owned. On the other side, seeing those extraordinarily accomplished individuals is undoubtedly an inspiration for one to introspect and stay humble so as to improving himself. For instance, Eric Kandel, an extraordinary neurobiologist as well as Nobel Laureate, used to be arrogant at his early stage of career. Yet after spending several years in another excellent lab in France also studying synapse plasticity, he obtained plenty of valuable experience as well as a modest attitude in scientific research, which turned out to be a crucial quality in his later career. So studying abroad is beneficial for forming a rational perception.

Nonetheless, considering distinguished educational background and economic condition of individuals, no one can rush to the assertion that this practice should become a requirement. For those who do not obtain the talent of learning foreign languages, studying abroad seems a dispensable request. And for those whose family cannot afford such a cost, staying domestically seems a safer way. Besides, a lot of youngsters are not mature enough to be capable of controlling themselves. On their sides, living in a new environment for too long without restraint from their guardians would probably do nothing but lead them to a wrong direction.

To sum up, admittedly studying abroad and tasting different civilizations provide one a perfect opportunity to gain practical abilities and improve himself physically as well as mentally. More various choices should be given to meet everyone’s requirement, such as which country to go or how long does the study last. Only through this, can students benefit from studying abroad to the largest extent.