Dominic Fago
English IIIB/ Bell 3
Ms. Wilson
3 May 2013
Discuss how your travel experiences have affected you as a student and
a citizen of the world.
Fortunately, I have had many opportunities to travel with my
family. Not only have I traveled across
the country, but also across the world.
I have been lucky enough to eat pizza in Italy, climb the Alps in
Switzerland, walk where history was made in Germany, and enjoy the romantic
views of France. Going off of the beaten
path, you can truly enjoy the wonders of the world. Through my travel experiences, I have gained
a deeper appreciation of the world’s geography, history, and cultures.
My traveling experiences are ones that I will never
forget. I find it astonishing how much
you can learn from family vacations.
Traveling through Europe, I was able to gain a much better understanding
of exactly where major conflicts, such as World War 1, took place. It was amazing to walk on streets that were
hundreds of years old, and visit castles from the medieval time period. In my mind, I could visualize battles that
took place on the grounds before me, and everyday life inside castles. These types of experiences helped me make
connections with what I have learned in school.
As student, sitting in a classroom, you are not able to truly
grasp what life is like around the world through textbooks and lectures. Once you become completely immersed in
another society, it becomes easier to learn and understand that culture. When I traveled to Europe, I gained a whole
new understanding of people and diversity among us. Many times we would drive to a place where
there wasn’t much tourism to get a truly authentic experience. Shopping for food and eating in restaurants,
where no one spoke English, provided me with a great learning experience in
communication. Simple tasks like filling
a gas tank, asking for directions or getting on the right train proved to be a
challenge. I found it amazing to see
what life was truly like outside of the United States.
As a citizen of the world, I have become much more aware of
how and why people view things a certain way.
Now, I better appreciate the cultural differences among people, how they
travel, and where they worship.
Traveling with my family has opened up my eyes and my mind to what the world
has to offer. I know how to be a
responsible citizen of the world and show respect to others as I visit their
countries. Citizens in Europe proved to
be both friendly and helpful.
Family vacations in the U.S.A. and traveling throughout the
world will forever be a part of my life.
Everyone should get the opportunity to travel outside of their comfort
zone. Being surrounded by people speaking
different languages, eating new foods, and interacting with new people make you
a better citizen. Traveling to new
places allows you to learn more about the cultures of the world than any text
book could teach you. After studying
about the world in school, then actually traveling to those places, my outlook has
changed. As a citizen, I can relate to
more people and have conversations with people from other countries. It is easier for me to put myself in someone
else’s shoes and view a conflict from their perspective, regardless of the
issue. My travel experiences have made
me eager to explore more cultures and have changed the way I think about the
world.
