Argument Essays 2026

Editor’s Choice

The seven essays below were the editor’s favorites.
*Listed alphabetically

Stella Choi

A Solo Trip to Japan

There it is. The place that my parents sent me. I saw the walls filled with "welcome" in numerous languages including Japanese and English. I was just standing there alone, not knowing what to do, but my mind was full of excited dreams that would start now! I was waiting for new experiences that will hug me tight like my family. Then, I wondered would studying abroad be better for students, or worse? I believe students must try to go abroad when trying to study better.

To start with, students can learn diverse cultures and languages in order to be a more international person. Though you can also study a new language in your own country it would bring a better result if you actually study in the real country. Some students literally want to study abroad but parents only send to thousands of academies. This must change. Studying abroad would be a way more joyful and educational experience. In my personal experience, I went to Shanghai for 2 and a half years and the progress was absolutely great. I learned Chinese, English, the two languages that I once hated to learn. But after I went abroad... things became much better and I learned many cultures with these languages as well. Thus, students can learn diverse cultures and languages and make them a more worldwide person.

Additionally, students can find a future job that they dream. Students can find and learn a hobby or interest and have it as your future job. K-POP artists, anime artists, American jazz musicians, what are the similarity in these jobs? It's that they are all based on one country's cultures. When finding an interest that fits you well from another country, you can decide your future dreams much more easily than before. Imagine that a girl really enjoyed "Demon Slayers" and was impressed by the characters that she wanted to become an anime designer. And when she goes to Japan, she can learn a lot more about her future job and maybe even take lessons. She will do what she wants, which is what parents must accept. Of course, it might be better if someone like teachers or parents decided everything for them since they are more experienced. However, for now, parents might make the correct decision, but later, things will change. Students won’t regret their choice of what they truly wanted as their job. Therefore, students can find a future job that they dream when going abroad.

Students need to go abroad when trying to study better. Students can learn different cultures and languages, and find a future job that you dream. Students can become more global and international. 3 years later I became very fluent of Japanese and English, many other languages. And now I had to leave a place that hugged me tight like a family. The airplane that is waiting for me and the walls filled with various languages. Everyone was waiting for me. "Good bye" in Japan. There it is. The end of Japan.

Yuni Im

Why Staying Abroad is the Best Solution

I wanted to run. I wanted to hide. I wanted to go back. But I knew there was nothing I could do to leave this intensive, lonely country.

When I studied abroad for three years in America, at first, I wanted to go back to Korea. I had no friends or place I felt was my home. I despised having to go to school. But after some time, I adapted and loved New Jersey as my home. However, like this, many students study abroad with the worry 'how will I adapt?' Society ignores them, as studying abroad has many diverse benefits that won over the sadness at first. As studying abroad has been a controversial issue, people are starting to wonder: should college students even study abroad? I strongly believe students must study abroad because they can learn how to adapt to changes, and practice responsibility.

To begin with, while studying abroad, students can learn how to adapt to change. Studying abroad is a very drastic change. For example, one has no friends or experience studying in the style of the country they'll be studying in. Will it be hard? Of course. The power to adapt and embrace new styles can be learned from studying abroad, as the styles they'll be learning will completely contrast, making it difficult for them. One might argue that studying abroad hold hardships of adaption. The struggles of adaption is exactly what society needs. These days, students are used to getting their own ways, since laws and policies about child protection have been enforced. However, the world is not a parent who will comfort them. It will force them to change and change to fit the orders of a person in a more high-ranking position. They must learn that there is not only one way or things, as society later on will push them to fit into a new shape. Therefore, college is the best time to learn this skill as it is the timing right before students become adults, fully into society. In conclusion, college students must study abroad because it teaches them to adapt and embrace changes.

Secondly, we must encourage college students to study abroad because it teaches them responsibility. Responsibility is not something you can learn with a book and pencils; you have to experience it to master it. Studying abroad — no friends, no parents, no limits, no warm your call home. College students must make decisions and take care of themselves and also control finance. For example, they would have to prepare meals without overreaching a budget and spend time so that it comes to their advantage. This might not seem like a big deal, but we are extracting what they've been provided since young. To create a household care and take care of others instead of oneself later on in society, studying abroad is an excellent chance to not only learn, but experience responsibility as well. Others argue that responsibility can be learned in their home country as well, as taking care of time and finance is the same. However, studying abroad has an even better chance to practice responsibility. In another country, students are unreachable by others. This leaves them to face the harsh world alone. Yes, alone. Responsibility cannot be helped; it is something one faces alone. Studying abroad is the perfect chance to do this. In summary, encouraging studying abroad is crucial as it teaches responsibility.

As you can see, even if the world is new, studying abroad holds benefits that are irreplaceable. It teaches skills that are essential to society, such as adapting to change and responsibility. Ignoring the gigantic advantage of studying abroad will leave society full of regret. Since studying abroad is the ultimate solution to the lack of an adaptation to change and responsibility in college students, we need to encourage them to have a chance at studying abroad.

No friends, no place you call home, no limit or warmth... You may feel sad, but what's a better place to study?

Amy Kim

What became a key to a world I never knew existed

I wanted to run. I wanted to hide. I wanted to go back to the place I belonged.

I woke up to see a street I was still not used to. The moment I stepped out of the doorway, my stomach lurched, sweat trickled down my forehead. I closed my eyes and started walking. I was scared. My feet felt like it weighed tons. However, few months later I realized everyone meets a wall at first. But once you are able to climb over it, a new world shines in front of you, almost like getting out of a box you thought only existed.

Students must study abroad because it opens a new perspective. Staying in a certain country is almost like being trapped in a box. But what if studying abroad helped you find a key to it? Every single country has a different way of teaching, and the diversity of environments create a difference in how one understands the same information. Imagine a person is from Zimbabwe and they want to study economics. In Zimbabwe, prices of apples and bananas change every day drastically. What if they decided to study in America? Would it be better to study economics in a country where the economy is unstable or a country it's economy is solid and stable? Even if this person heard the same information in both countries, it would come to him differently. Like this, studying abroad helps people see in different glasses. And these glasses help you grow faster than ever.

Next, studying abroad teaches students lessons that aren't written in textbooks. Learning that they used centrifuge to make butter during the civil war. Learning that √9 is 3. Learning that "its" is a possessive it! They are all written in textbooks. Anyone can learn them easily. But what about values as lessons we can't simply learn from books? They are much more invaluable than what we think. These unwritten lessons shape how we act, shape how we think, and shape who we'll become. By learning abroad, we get to experience different people from different cultures who think differently. Spending time with others can allow students to learn and spot sides of life they never knew. Some might learn there's more value to what they thought were priceless, while some might learn what they have been hanging to in life is not that big. Not just academically, but studying abroad allows us to be better as a person. It helps us be more bold and authentic.

Looking back at the wall I climbed over, I have no regrets. I still wake up to a street I am not used to. Sometimes I am still scared. But what's much more important is that my feet feels much lighter and that I have stepped into a world that I never knew existed. This world is not on a map but rather written in my heart.

Matthew Kim

Studying Abroad the key to a Student's Future

School is not simply about learning. As almost every adult and teacher will tell you, school is meant to be a place for students to prepare for becoming an adult and the responsibilities that come with it. Yet, most students gripe about going to school, many of complaining about how boring it is. In order to solve this problem, students must be able to learn essential skills and should be able to focus on what they desire to become. What is the best solution? Studying abroad.

For starters, studying abroad teaches students how to adapt to new environments. Most students in school spend most of their time in the brick-and-mortar classroom, where they lack new environments and challenges. However, studying abroad changes this. When students are faced with the task of getting accustomed to their new environment, they need to change in order to fit in their new environment. This may feel awkward and challenging, but it is essential for students to experience this. Traditional school doesn't facilitate this at all, confining students to a boring and familiar environment, making it challenging for students to adapt as adults! As adults, many students find themselves in an unfamiliar environment, whether they get a new job or a new country. Diving headfirst into this challenge is asking for failure, which is why learning to adapt is important. Moreover, as students study abroad they get to interact with people that have vastly different experiences and opinions. This they will also have to do as an adult as such, students must study abroad if they wish to develop these skills.

Additionally, studying abroad allows students to have a more specialized learning experience. Students, especially those living in smaller or poorer countries, don't have many opportunities to learn their specific passion. For instance, students living in America to study European architecture can have the option to go to a specialized school in Germany or France, and so on. If those students were to stay in America, they would have a much smaller range of options. This argument also applies for areas where there is a clearly superior school, such as in the case where students from around the world flock to Berkley to study music. This is especially useful for talented students that unfortunately don't receive support at home, that way they would now have options to explore foreign schools for a better education in that specific field. However, some argue that some countries have next to every school specialized in different areas. And this is true but only in specific developed countries like the U.S. and China. For the billions of students living elsewhere in the world, they don't have that convenience; studying abroad helps this. As such, students looking to study specific subjects should study abroad.

Thinking back to a typical school experience, studying abroad offers undeniable perks that students needs. Studying abroad makes school teach new social skills that were never taught before and allows millions, perhaps billions of students to satisfy their unique dreams. Studying abroad turns a short period of time into an invaluable experience, the effects of which last forever.

Rina Kim

Even More Colors to Paint a Life

A touch of color compared to a mixed palette of rainbow, what is better to use to paint a picture? A vibrant feel, a mixed variety of colors and an exceeded amount of passion and experiences is what completes a beautiful picture. And that is the same with life, this big variety of everything making up a unique and perfect masterpiece. Though many may state that these colors are only a messy mix of fun, complicated situations and unnecessary money, it is the complete opposite. The mix of fun and complicated colors is what completes a student's life. Students should study abroad because it makes a memorable experience and because they can learn more — a new perspective, embrace...

Firstly, students can earn memorable experiences that cannot compare to just staying inside their own country. The country that they will stay if they don't go abroad is the country that they were born in, raised in, and spent their whole lives in. Just think about how limited their happiness and memories are in that tiny confined space. Though it is completely true that they can earn new experiences there too, all they'll ever learn is the patterns they have known all their lives. It is time to change their limited view of the world. It is time to not keep them in the country that they'll stay forever in, but let them earn special memories that cannot be made in the country where they already used so much memories in. Studying abroad is not about doing math and another language in an advanced school. It is about the students themselves slowly stepping in a new part of the world independently and learning, growing with people who are different with them, people they can learn from and people they can teach.

What is life? Life is an open book full of endless pages just wanting to be filled up. What's the point of having a repetitive book? A book that only has new details at the start of the story and only has the same ones repeated again? A book that has a vibrant color at first but a color that stays forever the same throughout the story? Just one more new color, one that can easily be earned with a studying abroad experience can open them to a brand new chapter of life in a different color full of unique memories.

Furthermore, students can learn more in a new perspective. Learning is not complete if one only sees it from one perspective. What is the point in so many children not only learning the basics in school, but solving math workbooks that challenge them to think differently using these basics? It is to not shine the light in only a straight line, but many spread lights to let them walk through the path of math correctly. This is the same with learning in general. A writing technique may be taught differently in Spain and England. There may be more opportunities to open your mind to out of the box math questions in not only the U.S. but even more in Italy. Learning abroad doesn't limit your learning experiences, it expands them. Deepens them. Opens it into a different view of diversity. Not only allowing the learning experience to expand, but it's helpful for little things too. Culture, languages, new ways to greet and thank people. These new things students learn when abroad piled little by little will help them build a whole new mountain of life information, not only the original mountain they had been building ever since childhood.

What truly makes a masterpiece a masterpiece is the diversity, uniqueness, and the many different colors that make a painting. A special choice lies within the question: should students study abroad? In other words, paint their picture of life by learning in new perspectives and having many different memories that build a perfect collision of all the colors around the world.

Chaeyul Lee

Studying Abroad: A Vacation or Educational Experience?

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was the most brilliant man in the world. He was a symbol of peace, unity, and hope. This might sound ridiculous to Korean students, since they barely know anything about him. Although he is famous for uniting all of Japan, most South Korean textbooks omit almost everything about him. But in Japanese classrooms, the same man is treated like a figure of worship. He is the center of Japanese history as the man who brought peace to Japan. Even two countries in the same continent relatively close together have differences in education systems, and the differences become even more noticeable on a global scale. But most people don't even have chances to experience other types of education in other countries, unless they study abroad. Thus, students must study abroad in order to welcome other cultures and learn in different perspectives.

Firstly, students must study abroad in order to become open to other cultures. While studying abroad, people can experience how people in a certain country live based on their religion and customs. They can get to see what kinds of foods are eaten, what kinds of religions are practiced, and what kinds of traditional clothes are worn. By experiencing these things at an early age, students who study abroad will have time to get to understand the culture of the country that they are studying in. Thus, students must study abroad in order to become open-minded towards other cultures.

Second, students must learn in other countries in order to learn in different perspectives. This might sound strange, since the fundamentals of calculus don't change even if you move to Peru, and the basics of English grammar are the same from Iceland to Kiribati. However, in different countries, the way a subject is taught is also different. Even if the same thing is being taught, some countries focus on one part, and other countries teach more on the other. For instance, history is taught about mostly South Korea in our society, but in America, not much is taught about it. Therefore, students must study abroad in order to be educated in a new point of view.

Students must study in a new country in order to embrace new cultures and learn in a fresh perspective. Learning abroad might just seem to be a waste of time, a vacation, or some time to relax, but it actually benefits education. There's no need to abandon every belief you have and replace them all with Japanese ones, but it's beneficial to get to experience new cultures and learn in a new way.

Albert Park

Where Foreign Cultures and Languages Await

"I'm going to America," my cousin told me. "What?" I exclaimed, "when? How long?" "Tomorrow, for 2 years," he told me. I was breathless, partly because I would miss him so much, the other part that I wanted to tag along as well. One year later, my cousin called me and told me how peaceful and fun it was there in America. I was happy to hear that he was having a great time halfway across the globe, but I still missed him. However, when I saw how happy he was, I started to wonder: is studying abroad better than just staying home and studying? Some say that studying abroad could give you a taste of the real world and could greatly effect your whole world view, but others argued that studying abroad would just be a vacation for students and it would be ineffective. But studying abroad isn't a stupid vacation; it's a journey. It can change your world view and give you a taste of other countries' cultures, therefore creating more bonds. Studying abroad needs to be required for students in universities because you can learn other countries' unique cultures and learn another language.

Initially, studying abroad must be required because you can experience other unique cultures. When studying abroad, the student is in a completely different environment, and they try to adapt to it, but in the process, they also experience that country's culture, as the environment is deeply related to the country's culture. They can learn the unique culture and get used to it, as they are staying in that country for a long time. For example, if an American student studies in France, they are staying in France for a long time, and they can get used to French culture in that country, as the environment is deeply connected with French culture there. This can even have an impact on their world view, as they can learn many unique cultures and get a taste of the real world. A study in a university shows that 96% of students that studied abroad had their world view changed, therefore proving that studying abroad can transform your whole view of the world. Therefore, studying abroad must be required because you can experience diverse, unique cultures.

Additionally, studying abroad needs to be mandatory for students because the students can learn new languages. The student will have to stay in the country they're studying in, and as they study, they will also have to interact with the country's people from time to time. But since the people use a different language, the student earns the chance to learn that language, from interaction with the country's people. For example, when I was in America, I had to talk with or ask the American people from time to time. This actually helped me learn English a lot, because I picked up basic phrases that the people used, and learned a lot more words and phrases as time went, from interaction with the American people. This example clearly proves that when studying abroad, the student can pick up the country's language from interaction with the country's people. And if the student learns the language, they can begin interacting smoothly with the country's people, therefore creating more bonds and even friendships. By learning a new language, you're receiving a free chance to make international bonds and friendships! As proven, students should be required to study abroad because they can learn a new language, and even create more bonds.

To recap, studying abroad should be required for university students because they can learn a new, unique, diverse, and fascinating culture and language. Because of this, students get to experience lively cultures, like traditional festivals, and create international bonds and friendships. While there are concerns that students will think of studying abroad as a vacation, this is not true, as studying abroad allows them to study and even offers them a chance to go out into the real world and learn about many diverse cultures. Every day, every minute, every second that a student studies in a foreign country, they are offered the valuable chance to bond with that country's culture and its people. Why not study abroad, when you can experience so many traditional events and learn so many diverse, interesting languages? When my cousin comes back from the U.S. he's gonna love hot dogs and hamburgers, and might even have his American friends with him.