Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

COLUMN: Education extends beyond the classroom
By Chelsea Lankes
The Battalion (Texas A&M)
09/14/2007

(U-WIRE) COLLEGE STATION, Texas — America's founding fathers adamantly advocated an isolationist standpoint concerning foreign affairs. President Washington advised Americans not to "entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition." Heeding his advice, the United States concentrated on matters close to home until the 19th century, but after World War II, military isolationism became a matter of the past. Since Sept. 11, the United States has turned its focus on becoming the world's police, but mentally, Americans — specifically students — have kept a passive attitude towards foreign affairs.

It has been recorded that only 21 percent of Americans own a passport. According to the Department of Education, less than eight percent of undergraduate students are taking foreign language courses, and less than two percent of students study abroad in a given year. These frightening statistics confirm that students have kept themselves isolated from matters concerning other cultures.

On the contrary, European students benefit from a gap year. This became a popular trend in the 1990's when Oxford and Cambridge required students that had completed their secondary education to take entrance exams in the fall, after final exams were finished; students had a nine-month break before beginning university. During that time, students were encouraged to travel, volunteer or work in all parts of the world with the intention of grasping different aspects of a variety of cultures and in turn appreciating the facets of their own.

Obviously, this is not common in America for a number of reasons. Primarily, American students aren't exposed to the option of education outside of school. In addition, many students can't afford to take a year off in between secondary school and college. It's understandable that American culture doesn't endorse a gap year; we are the quintessential fast-paced and wealth-driven nation. There is hardly time in our routine lives to take a nine-month sabbatical just to travel and immerse ourselves in another culture.

Though a gap year may not be feasible for everyone, studying abroad is a valuable and reasonable option. Texas A&M offers a variety of programs that give students the opportunity to study anywhere in the world. Just as the website for A&M's study abroad programs says, "Getting an education is more than getting a degree. It is knowing, understanding and contributing to your world, a world of increasing complexity and interdependence."

Students should take the opportunity to open their minds by traveling. Whether it is taking a year off, studying abroad or trips with the family, you as an individual will benefit from a heightened awareness of the world. Traveling these days may be more of risk than, say, a decade ago because terrorism has haunted the world's transportation services and the minds of those who travel by them. However, individuals shouldn't let fear get in the way of expanding the human intellect. Traveling, studying abroad, just simply taking the time to learn more about other cultures outside of the books will benefit not just yourself, but the entire world.

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