Many students choose to study at colleges and universities that are far away from the places where they grew up. Do the benefits of this outweigh the drawbacks?

An increasing number of students select to study at colleges and universities that are far away from their hometowns.

Although

there are some demerits,

such

as separation from your parents’ protection and higher costs, the merits of standing on one’s own feet far outweigh these demerits. Some people insist that living and studying away from their hometowns risks their lives by getting out of the protection of their parents and costs them more.

In other words

, they are more vulnerable to strangers and must struggle to establish their relationship from scratch,

as well as

pay more for living and travelling. A good example is the freshmen of a college or university; not only must they be accustomed to the new environment, but they

also

must search for new friendships and mentors from the beginning, and some of them even suffer from stalking by strangers when they start to live alone, which is truly dangerous.

Furthermore

, they must pay an extra amount of money for living costs that would

otherwise

not be required.

However

, all of these are solvable and negligible when you consider your entire life span.

On the other hand

, the main benefits of going to colleges and universities in a distant place from your hometown are that you can acquire survival skills and that you can concentrate more on yourself, nourishing the skills necessary for today’s competitive society and becoming more independent.

For instance

, people with experience serving in the military for certain years are usually more independent and more skilful at communicating or cooperating with others than those without. In conclusion, even though there are some struggles with the relationship and the extra expenses at

first,

the advantages of being independent by studying far away from your hometown far outweigh these drawbacks.