Take advantage of travel opportunities

Our view

College is one of the few chances we have to travel. Students should take advantage of the Study Abroad office and the chance to earn college credit while spending time in another country, learning a new culture, language and way of life.

This world is much bigger than the boundaries of Orange and Los Angeles counties and it is our responsibility to learn about other countries. Expanding your horizons to Tijuana on the weekend does not count.

Living in another country for a while or spending time with the locals before moving on your trek ’round the world will provide the traveler with a worldliness and understanding that cannot be gained except through experience. Travel teaches respect and helps people understand that the rest of the world is not like the United States. There are different and sometimes better ways to live than what we have here.

College is a time of freedom from financial and social obligations. Most of us do not have families to worry about, or a full-time job to miss. We are also young and healthy. We don’t need as much sleep and can go for days drinking only coffee and nibbling a small bag of doughnuts. This kind of bodily endurance can only be found in youth and can be’used by spending a little money and lot of time abroad.

The adventure of spirit you have now is not easily found later in life. Once you’re older you will need security more than excitement. There is more to lose once you’re “settled,” have a nine-to-five, a mortgage and kids to worry about. Now is the time to take chances and not worry too much about how your actions affect your family. Later you won’t be able to climb the Alps or drink in Irish pubs because you’ll have kids and a house payment to worry about.

During college, you only have yourself to consider. If you get trapped in prison in another country, no child or wife will suffer because of it.

Not only that, you don’t have to worry about paying off loans. Study abroad may be expensive, but those college loans don’t have to be paid until after college, when graduates are expected to get a nice job and settle down to pay off their thousands of dollars of debt incurred while living the good life.

Shirking your responsibilities is something you can only get away with now. So buy a plane ticket and take off to Europe or Asia. Do it now, while things aren’t as complicated.

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