Study Abroad

Study Abroad Application Essay

"Traveling is a fool's paradise," Ralph Waldo Emerson said. "I have no cranky objection to world travel for the purposes of art, of study, and goodwill, as long as the individual is first domesticated, or doesn't go abroad with the hope of finding something greater that what he knows. He who travels to be amused, or to get something he doesn't have within, travels away from himselfÐ'..." While Emerson's comments may seem extreme to those who enjoy the occasional trip for leisure, he makes an important point regarding the value of travel from both a scholarly and personal standpoint. Studying abroad fulfills what Emerson sees as the deeper purpose of travel, which I realized last fall semester when I studied abroad at the University of Oxford. The opportunity to study in France next summer appeals to me for two reasons, both of which will contribute to my higher education, career and personal goals.

The unique historic interest of this trip particularly appeals to me. History has always been of particular personal interest, especially history of the medieval period. Though France is the most visited nation in the world, welcoming 60 million tourists each year, few have the opportunity to participate in an archeological dig, truly Ð''hands-on history'. I hope to pursue a master's degree in cultural resources management archeology at SCSU after completing my undergraduate, and I also hope to earn a master's of library and information science. I plan on pursuing a career in special collections librarianship or archives management, and this trip will provide useful field experience as I begin my graduate education. It is also my goal to acquire fluency in the French language; I am particularly interested in French literature. Thus, a trip to France makes perfect sense as a means to utilize what I will have learned in my French classes (I am enrolled in French 101 at the moment, will take 102 in the fall and 201 in the spring) as well as to acquire greater proficiency