Immersion Learning

Learning through immersion is the most aesthetic and enriching learning method I've experienced. It taught me more than I've learned in some classes and textbooks in a whole year.  Because of my experience in Morocco and everything that it taught me, I have such a deep respect for the powerful force of  immersion learning. There is something about living in someone else's shoes that changes you. You aren't learning about that person, culture or country through a textbook, newspaper, television, radio or word of mouth. You are learning first hand and from your own personal experience and interactions so that you can't make a judgement based on a stereotype that you heard somewhere. It has taught me to observe and discern a situation before I react. It has taught me to open my mind and heart to people and things that I'm not familiar with. It has taught me to always question and learn about what's around me. It has taught me that the only way we really learn is when we get out of our comfort zones and allow new experiences for ourselves. Or else, how will our hearts and minds ever grow? Seven billion people and counting make up our world, all of us with different perspectives, religions, ethnicities, and cultures. All those differences cause a lot of misunderstanding and stereotyping. But if we took the time to share with each other, live with each other, and realize we are all human than there  would be a lot of understanding happening. At the end of the day we are all human beings with the same hopes, dreams, sorrows and pains just in different forms. We must strive to learn. Not merely through a textbook or a classroom. But truly learn, by delving into the world and retiring from our comfort zones. By opening our minds and hearts to other people, ideas, religions and cultures you are expanding your understanding of the world and have a fresh perspective on our society as a whole.
Acquiring a worldview and personal discovery cannot be found in multiple choice questions and cannot be represented by a letter grade. Immersion is the most effective way to learn a language, learn about another culture, and learn about ourselves. Experiencing a situation rather than reading or hearing about it is two very different things and results in two very different understandings afterwards.