Develop a position on whether your Vision Trip to the United States was meaningful/rewarding, or not

Meeting with alumni who are more than 10 years older, listening to lectures by professors from colleges that most people can only dream of going, and touring a country abroad with more than 150 friends. Is this something that anyone can experience easily? I do not think so. I think that the vision trip to the United States was very meaningful and I have four reasons.

The first reason is because students were able to visit eight top colleges in the United States. Yes, there are some people who have visited a few of these colleges while they were touring the United States but were they able to listen to lectures by current professors directly? Probably not. Students listened to lectures that they were interested in and also, they were able to feel the college’s atmosphere. Through this, they were able to sincerely consider about going to colleges overseas and it helped students find their visions, which is the main purpose of the vision trip.

The second reason is because students could visit famous companies and organizations that lots of people think of as dream jobs. Google, Youtube, IMF, and UN are companies and organizations that most people know of. Even very young children know of Youtube because they watch videos on it. Students visited companies that have a lot to do with their everyday lives. Some students were so impressed that they set these companies as their goals and this motivated them to work harder after coming back from the vision trip.

The third reason is because students were able to feel the culture of a different country in person. Students visited famous tourist attractions like Metropolitan, MOMA, Times square, and Smithsonian which are places that sometimes even appear on movies, watched musicals like Wicked and Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, and also visited the capital and learned a bit of the history of the United States. Not only that, but by visiting daily places like shopping malls and restaurants, students could experience everyday life in the United States. A very important element when living abroad is the country’s culture. If you cannot adapt with the culture, then your life in that country will not be that happy.

The last reason, and also what I think was most meaningful, was meeting alumni who graduated or are currently attending colleges in the United States. This year the 22^nd wave students met 104 alumni who came to give advice to their juniors. Of course, students can meet alumni during school reunions and alumni meetings, but this is absolutely different from meeting them in colleges that they graduated or are studying in, and schools that their juniors may be dreaming of going. Also, students could receive practical advice because the alumni told their juniors their firsthand experiences.

Yes, there were some programs that missed the main purpose of the vision trip. But still, there were much more meaningful programs than the opposite. Therefore, I think the vision trip to the United States was very meaningful.