Are Scholarships Wasted on the Young?

Every day I am surrounded by people who are studying English on scholarships from their governments.  Don't get me wrong.  I am not unhappy for them.  I am, in fact, jealous.  I want a scholarship to go to a foreign country and study.

Some, not all, of my students get to study English in Canada because of these scholarships. Hopefully, they will go back home and utilize their English in their careers.  Those who aren't on scholarships, but are studying nonetheless, can hopefully do the same thing.

I said that I am jealous.  That is true.  I really wish there were scholarships for people in their early forties who want to go to Japan and study Japanese for a year.  The program could contain studying both language and culture.  That would be awesome.

These kinds of things are mostly given to young people, but wouldn't older, more mature (most of the time) people get even more benefit from them?  It is great that young people are given such experience, but we need to consider a few other things.  With age comes wisdom, or so the saying goes.  An older person would have the ability to see things more clearly, judge more accurately, and experience things more fully.  And then, wouldn't an older person be better able to articulate the things that were seen and learned?

Everybody is told to keep upgrading their skills.  Most workplaces want people to keep increasing their qualifications, or at least maintain contemporary skills.  Shouldn't this be the same for experiences as well?  It is certainly something to consider.