Hamilton-the Broadway musical-is one of the most influential pieces of art in this generation. It depicts people of many different cultures, identities, and backgrounds, despite portraying figures, who in real life, would not have looked the same as the actors that played them. Casting choices such as Leslie Odom Jr.(playing Aaron Burr) and Lin-Manuel Miranda(playing Alexander Hamilton) were intentionally meant to challenge traditional narratives and make it feel more accessible to the modern audiences. By picking such a diverse cast Miranda shows unity and equality amongst the characters, all while showing that America’s story belongs to everyone. In this way, Hamilton demonstrates how connection and shared experience-much like cultural exchange-can bring people together and remind us that our stories are intertwined. My vision for a more connected world emphasizes the importance of expanding study abroad programs and making them more accessible to students from all backgrounds.
Study abroad is a term used to describe when a student takes classes in or has experiences in another country. These experiences are often excellent for experiencing new cultures, new language development, and broader global perspectives beyond their home institution. Oftentimes the students that receive these opportunities foster a real connection and understanding of another culture. This happens due to the fact that they are forced out of their comfort zones through immersive experiences; such as, living with host families, navigating local transportation, and engaging in daily community life. If we could increase the accessibility for students to receive these programs, we could dismantle the physical and economic barriers that historically isolated communities.
How can we make study abroad opportunities more accessible? Financial aid and scholarships are a great way to fund these opportunities. They ensure institutional, state, and federal aid can be applied to study abroad programs. Furthermore, if the institution providing the abroad opportunities starts early, they can provide payment plans that allow students to break the costs into smaller installments over several months. In addition to this, fundraising would be a huge advantage to students with lower income. Fundraising encourages students to start early and support them in crowdfunding or finding local, community based scholarships. Last but not least, university housing can help many students by utilizing university dorms rather than expensive hotels. These solutions can help make study abroad opportunities much more affordable for students, and knock down the barriers that previously limited them to explore these other cultures in the first place.
When it comes to fostering global connections through cultural exchange-I believe that study abroad programs are one of the best ways to carry out these ideas. That being said, these opportunities should be more widely available in terms of cost. This is why my vision for this more connected world starts by encouraging more financial aid and scholarships, early planning and installments, fundraising support, and finally university housing opportunities to be utilized for these abroad programs. Opportunities like these study abroad programs keep students from missing their ‘shot’ and help shape the future of their individual lives. As more and more students experience different cultures around the world, they not only start to rewrite their own futures, but they unknowingly and perhaps unexpectedly begin to reshape the cultural awareness of their own nations. Much like “My Shot” was Hamilton’s opportunity to overcome and change the world, bridging cultures in this way is not only my opportunity but other students’ opportunity to do the same.
