Today I want to talk about my opinion toward the scholarship for exchange student. For most of the article, the discussion may only limit in the case in Taiwan but you can easily apply this logic or idea to every country or state.
As I mentioned in the home page, I was an exchange student who studied in Prague for two semesters and I did received scholarship from our ministry of education. With approximately 6000 Euro for two semesters, I believe it's really lucky for me to be able to get this amount of fund considering the living standard in Czech Republic (If you've ever lived or traveled to Czech or Europe, you'll know or at least heard of the living standard over there is probably one of the cheapest place in Europe and at the same time you can experience the so called "Europe Culture", generally).
With the experience and the receiver of scholarship, some of the points may not be objective but I believe it's not harmful to discuss the topic of "Scholarship for exchange students".
It occurred to me that not until I had a dinner with my friends from all around the globe and came back to dorm together by metro did I realize the essence of funding scholarship provided by government.
We talked about everything happened in each country. From the brief introduction of each country to the discussion of main problems that each country is suffering, everybody can be others' teacher and student. Based on our previous knowledge of the specific country, we ask question and we gradually build the EarthMap in our mind by the corresponding answer. In my opinion, the process of breaking sterotype is one of the best part of getting to know new friends.
Everyone can be a diplomat of one's belonging country.
Unlike the official diplomats with limited amount of members who work for the government, students studying abroad are like both "needle" and "spider".
As a needle, one can easily penetrate the border and have countless communications and interactions with any person directly in front of their face, which can leave much more impact compared to official documents or worldwide news. Try to make a dandelion in your mind with the center located at your country.
As a spider, one can create one's own web in some area. While you move from one place to another, your trail can form silk which can connect with other webs. These silk as well as web mean information including interaction with other spiders studying in different country, introduction, communication with locals, etc. Try to imagine a group of spiders moving and making web on the surface of the globe.
I deeply believe that sending students abroad is a much more effective, efficient and economical way than performing other diplomatic acts.
For example, under the stress from China, It is constantly reported in the news that we Taiwan loses few more diplomatic allies, while the rest are some African or Caribbean conutries. None of these countries are stronger than Taiwan in economic situation. They are all underdeveloped or developing countries, and the only way we have correlation or communication with them is by giving them money or some resources for free, teach them anything, help them construct their own infrastructure, receive their students and give them free education, and so forth.
However, to compete with China, how is it possible? They have more money, more resources than us, and most importantly, much more powerful. If we give our allies 1 million dollars, they can give them 10 million dollars. If we help them build a village, they can construct a city for them. What's more, they can force them to cancel the relationship with us simply by the fact that they're powerful.
Therefore, students who study abroad are one of the best solution to this dilemma. It's a more parctical way to enhance our deplomacy not only with our deplomatic allies but also with everyone that they've encountered.
During my stay in Prague, one fact that amazed me is that almost everyone from Taiwan did received scholarship from our government, but from my observation some didn't do what they are expected to do while receiving this valuable fund. What's wrong ?
I think utilizing students who study abroad as diplomats is a good chance to enhance deplomacy as well as raise visibility of Taiwan in every corner in the world. Students are obligated to interact more with people from other countries. To actively participate in various events and discussion since one is not only an invidual but also a representative of one's own country. To expose oneself in different group and culture, to experience what one can't experience in one's country are also critical. However, some Taiwanese just love to gather together all the time, including cooking together, travelling together or even sitting together in the class. I think gathering together once in a while is totally understandable because it's one of the best solutions to solve one's nostalgia, but gathering toether all the time while living abroad is absolutely beyond tolerance. It is like you give up such an excellent opportunity to be able to experience different things while others should have been selected. By constantly stepping out of comfort zone, you can gain more than what you've ever imagined.
From the government's perspective, I think giving scholarship is more than economical. Since the budget for scholarship can be distributed to different kinds of items including social welfare, diplomacy and education, etc... in government annual grand budget. Little amount of money can have unexpectable result.
Therefore, the process of selecting candidates should be more serious. Taiwanese government and the old tradition focus more on candidates' grade. But I suggested that we should concentrate on one's motivation. This is what we've neglected since old times but, instead, the most significant force to drive people forward.
