Art by Chris Chen
As an international student from Quito, Ecuador, I have been asked many times “Why? Why would you leave home to come all the way to the United States for college?” It almost feels as if I seem completely insane to many when they find out how far my small South American country is from Pepperdine in comparison to their two-hour drive or four-hour flight across the country.
However, there is a very important reason as to why international students willingly choose to sacrifice their comfort zone and only home for something so much better.
I cannot speak for everyone, as I know that every student has his or her own personal reasons and views for why they decided to come to the United States, but I can definitely say that one of the main reasons why most students, including myself, leave home is because of this simple reason: Education in the United States is incomparable to the education you would receive in, let’s say, a third-world country like Ecuador. The scholarly resources, the highly-educated professors and the organized and established universities you find here provide a drastic step up the scale compared to other countries.
Another main reason why many students choose the United States is due to of the opportunity to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience in a drastically different culture and environment than back home.
For example, as written in the article by Miriam Jordan, “International Students Stream into U.S. Colleges,” in the Wall Street Journal on March 24, 2015, many Saudi Arabian students explained for themselves how coming to U.S. schools allows them to go back home as more mature individuals. Throughout their university years they are exposed to numerous different perspectives and cultures that enables them to be more adaptive and open to diversity.
The third main reason why international students choose to come here is because of something I like to call “The Golden Ticket,” better known as a Bachelor’s degree. Having a Bachelor’s from a U.S. university is literally a golden ticket all over the world. Since the United States has an extremely positive reputation for its education and being able to study here is a luxury for most citizens abroad, going back home with a Bachelor’s degree or any degree from here is the personal golden ticket to success. It is a ticket that opens numerous doors for any individual to the highest and best positions in practically any company or organization of their choice.
In essence, I would say these are the three main reasons, even though there are numerous other personal reasons that each individual international student has.
Personally, I was blessed to be born into a family that wanted me to get my education here in the United States rather than in Ecuador. So when the time came for me to apply to college during my senior year of high school, I was lucky to know that I would not have to worry about applying to universities in my home country. However, I was bombarded with the nervousness of having to choose the right fit for me and as my list got narrower, I ended up choosing Pepperdine, a great decision I could never regret.
I ended up choosing to come here because representatives came to my school in Ecuador and presented the university to us seniors. I immediately fell in love with the pictures of the beautiful campus — as I am sure everyone else did too — and the high standard of education was also a huge deciding factor. But most importantly, I saw that Pepperdine had something extra to offer.
Although this school is very well-known, has spectacular views and is in the famous city of Malibu, what I liked most about Pepperdine was the importance this university placed on forming a person spiritually as well as intellectually. It seemed to me that Pepperdine was more interested in creating well-rounded individuals, who could leave this university having a better sense of who they really are, rather than merely creating empty smart machines who would leave with no internal strength or beliefs. As said by Aristotle himself, “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”
Luckily, I have loved my experience at Pepperdine. Someday, I will go back home and take all the knowledge and experience I have gained here, and I will try to help my country through whatever my future job may be. I have positively grown since my time here, and this growth and experience are some of the best takeaways all international students will keep with them for the rest of their lives.
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