The Benefits of Being an International Student
A lot of people in China always ask me: why do you spend a lot of money and take a long flight to go to the U.S? I think it is for the better education. As we all know, most of the students who go to the top 50 universities in U.S look forward to talking with famous professors and studying with excellent classmates. In this way, they are able to gain knowledge and expertise.
However, from my perspective, apart from the knowledge, what I actually get from studying abroad is the ideal chance to take a look at myself. In a new environment where I can hardly meet my parents and familiars, all I can do is to take care of myself physically and mentally. When facing a new problem, I have to talk to myself to calm down and analyze how to properly deal with it. In this process, I am able to communicate with my heart and know what are my advantages and which ability I need to get and improve. For example, when I arrived at UCSB, it was too hard to communicate with native people, because their pronounces were various, which were not the same as the English listening textbook I learned in China. Besides, they like to speak in a high speed and sometimes, I can hardly hear any full word from them. This listening problem troubled me during that time. Every night when I were on my bed, I considered it a lot. I thought it was the strangeness of words that made me lose myself in the talk. So I searched for the Everday words in Google and memorized them time by time. At the same time, aiming to handle the listening problem, I forced myself to talk with native people and if I cannot catch the step, I say “I’m sorry” to ask them to say it again. By this way, I am gradually able to catch others’ words and can respond them immediately.
Besides, by studying abroad, I also know how to make friends with others, how to cook a good meal, and how to deal with the stuffs in the university. Everytime I find a problem, I have to deal with it alone, which requires me to take a look at myself to know whether or not I can handle or I need to learn how to handle it. After studying in UCSB for half a year, I have an overall understanding of myself: I like studying alone and learning something about computer and circuit. My oral English is not fluent enough and improving it will be my next goal. So I think what I benefit from studying abroad besides the knowledge is understanding who I actually am, what are my advantages and what I have to learn. In the process of understanding myself, I enjoy learning new abilities that I don’t get before, because only in this way can make my life rich and happy.
