Seems like a way for a woman to escape the home and family. Kinda sad really.
I suspect she and her family see it as a way to improve all their lives. They may have all helped to pay for her education as well. She may be the first link in a longed for chain migration to America.
When she gets home, they feast and hold her up as a model to all the other children and to work harder at math.
It sure as hell beats being sold to an old man so your family can buy rice.