Influence of travel abroad on high school students prior to college

The students of today live in a world that is connected yet isolated. The experience obtained from a virtual world is not the same as that gained by actual visits to a foreign country. It is evident from the research participants' responses that many Americans who have never been outside the country believe the entire world lives as Americans do. Many do not realize that the resources, comfort, and the wealth many people in the United States have is not common, and often the people in other parts of the world have to live with far less.The fact that many research participants became aware of simple things that they take for granted while in the United States shows that traveling to places that do not have access to the same standard of living produces a sense of appreciation for the American way of life.The research participants expressed a sense of accomplishment from the short-term travel experience especially with the fact that they felt as though they had some knowledge on how the people lived in another part of the world. They expressed confidence to go to college with a broad awareness of interacting with people from other cultures.