Why Students Should Study away from Home - Essay Example

Why should study away from home? In modern times, education has emerged as one of the most important necessitiesof life and it is for this reason that much attention is paid to education; not only on domestic and local level, but also at the national level. The fact that the success of nations in the international scenario depends upon the performance of qualified and skilled individuals is sufficient to support the importance of education. For this reason, various forms, models, infrastructures and styles of education prevail in our country that are contributory towards the educational process of the education. Educational institutions impart education in variety of ways; regular schooling, distant education, online education and the use methods of instructions like ‘second life’ are all manifestations of the need of education that prevails in the society. At this point, I would like to bring to your kind attention the student’s perspective in this regard. Despite the widespread availability of educational facilities on national level, students often have to travel long distances to quench their thirst for knowledge. In many cases, they have to leave the comfort of their home and go to distant cities and countries to gain knowledge and earn degrees for their professional careers. For some, this is an entirely motivating experience; but for others, it is miserable. The reason for this may be personal preferences, domestic conditions, financial conditions, relationships and in many cases personal responses to unfamiliar places and circumstances. Ideally speaking, students during their early years should be strictly under parents’ observation. This does not mean that their right to liberty should be abolished; but there should certainly be checks and balances to guide their behaviors and educational process. Keeping in view the fact that a naïve mind is more vulnerable and prone to learning undesired behaviors, the notion of providing education to this class of students at domestic level or nearby educational institutions appears more promising. But what about students, when they enter their teen years? Are they less vulnerable? I my view, the common perception is that children are more vulnerable to learning undesired behaviors during their teen years. Additionally, this is the age during which most students indulge in activities that ultimately result in dropping out of school; many of them therefore fail to graduate from the high school. A good example would be the increased incidence to unwanted teenage pregnancies which causes the females to drop out of school and never become able to graduate. Moreover, drug addiction and other similar issues are also common in this age group. For this reason, parents are often more concerned about teenagers, since they react according to the happenings that take place in the society. For this class of parents, educating a child in a nearby school is the most appropriate thing since they are not willing to trust the society when it comes to taking care of their children. Contrary to this perception, an alternate approach is to empower the students by providing them the required training and education regarding the evils that prevail in the society. This class of parents strives to educate their children about the various matters of life and in doing so, equip them well enough to take decisions on their own regarding matters of daily life. Their focus is to guide their children about different behaviors and the pros and cons of various decisions that they take during their life time. So, basically this is an approach that empowers the children and teenagers to function on their own, under conditions of ‘no guidance’. In my understanding this class of parents is more inclined towards allowing their children to join educational institutions that are distant from their locality. For them, studying away from home is the only way to success and since their children are well equipped to handle such situations, they opt to send their children away from home. In my understanding, studying in a setting that is away from home is more enriching and for this reason I find myself more aligned with the class of parents that favors studying away from home. Despite the fact that it requires greater efforts, financial resources and sacrifice on part of the student, it is more rewarding to study away from home. At this time, I would like to stress upon the fact that education is not merely a study of books, theories and principles; it is more than that. It is almost impossible to learn beyond books and theories in the home setting. Studying away from home provides an additional layer of learning that is not only more stimulating, but also enriching in terms of learning behaviors. First and foremost, the fact that living in a setting where other students and no parents reside allows the opportunity to interact with fellows in an unhindered way. Since every person is free to choose his friends based on his own choice, such settings allow an opportunity to select a class of individuals with whom a learner is most comfortable. The lack of hindrance allows sharing of ideas in a way that is more thought stimulating and hence more contributory towards learning. In my opinion, a learner’s exposure to students from diverse origins while studying away from home cannot be matched with the diversity that one encounters while staying at home. Of course, the educational institutions that harbor students on their campuses admit students from national and international origins. This diversity is characteristic of institutions that collaborate with other educational institutions worldwide. Therefore, students belonging to different nations, religions, castes and religions attend such institutions which contribute to cultural enrichment. For this reason, student who study away from home are more tolerant of other’s opinions, cultures and other differences; a characteristics that is essential to become an effective leader. Additionally, the professional connections that develop at this stage of life with other fellow students extend beyond the campus and many times they become a source of success in the professional life. Since the world is turning into a global village and various technologies of communication and transport are literally shrinking and eliminating the distances and borders that exist between different countries and nations; these professional connections can turn into benefits of huge magnitude for students who are exposed to multicultural educational environments. An additional aspect that I would to talk about is the availability of educational opportunities of choice in different educational institutions. It is impossible for every educational institution to offer courses in every discipline. Various problems like trained faculty, financial resources and the number of students willing to take on a particular course are all determinant of the availability of a particular course in an institutions. For this reason, students who fail to study away from home, often have to give up the career of their choice, merely for the reason that they themselves or their parents are not willing to opt for education at a distant setting. Such students therefore adopt a profession that is not in accordance to their natural aptitude, which itself becomes a cause of failure in the long run. On the other hand, students who take the initiative to leave the comfort of their home and travel to distant places for acquiring education that is in accordance to their natural skills are more likely to excel; not only during their educational tenure, but also when they enter their professional lives. I therefore conclude by asserting that studying away from home is a form of learning that should be encouraged by all parents as it can bring forth results that are not only favorable for the family of students, but also for the nation as a whole. Read More