Take Advantage of Studying Abroad!
I always tell people, “It’s really hard to explain how studying abroad impacts an individual unless you experience it firsthand.” I could spend hours trying to convince the entire population of college students in America that studying abroad is a life changing experience – as ironically cliché as that sounds. After all, when we are in the process of reaching adulthood, almost everything is a life changing experience. But ask anybody who has gone abroad – not just traveled or vacationed, but actually lived in different corners, time zones and isles of the globe – the large majority will tell you that the world has much more to offer than what we are accustomed to.
Studying abroad put everything into perspective for me. Being in another country reminds me that there is so much more to life than my domestic school, my friends and my home. When we take the time to step out of our comfort zones, we realize that we are a lot more fortunate than many other people in this world. For example, students here in Taiwan can work extremely hard, at school or at work, and not even come close to getting opportunities like the job offers college students get on an everyday basis in America. Americans grow up constantly hearing “you can do whatever you want to do in life”, but in Asia, students lack the capacity to dream because their only opportunity to have a great career would be to move to America. All of this sounds like common knowledge, but it is one thing to read this knowledge in an article and a totally different experience to see it first hand.
Many college graduates say that their biggest regret in college was not studying abroad. Even if you have to take your 5th year to go abroad, I say do it because you probably will never have another chance to live in a different country for a few months before jumping into your career here. Living in another country drastically differs from simply visiting another country. Studying abroad allows an individual to discover more than just tourist attractions; you are given the opportunity to immerse yourself in a culture that strays far away from the lifestyle that you have known all your life.
You can learn different languages, and moreover, meet different people with entirely dissimilar worldly perspectives. Living in Taiwan allows me to interact with Taiwanese locals while practicing Chinese on an everyday basis, which is a great advantage when learning a second language. Being in Taiwan has also given me the opportunity to take a step out of my life back home and reflect on my college experience as a whole; it forces me to think about what I want to do with the rest of my life. The people I met abroad are among the most intelligent, interesting, and inspiring individuals I know. There are many students I met here that are older than me and I feel as if I have so much to learn from them. It is always nice to find people who you look at and think, “I wish I could be as successful as him or her one day.” Not only are you able to learn and experience diverse lifestyles, traveling alone and learning to be independent will help you discover more about yourself as well.
We all have different definitions of success that go hand in hand with our personal philosophies. I believe that it is important to have goals and dreams, and to never lose sight of what is important in life. My definition of being successful is to take full advantage of your opportunities - and studying abroad is an opportunity that definitely should not be missed!
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Learning New Skills!
It’s been raining nonstop for the past few days and I heard that it will continue raining until next year. The good this is that I’ve finally learned to bike and hold an umbrella at the same time just like Taiwanese locals! People in my program are starting to leave one by one and it’s really sad. As the rooms are emptying out, the dorm is becoming more and more quiet. If you're not counting the students here for a year, I’m leaving last. =(
On the upside, I recently started teaching English and I have about 5 students that I teach privately. I’m having a lot of fun with that. I’m still in the process of looking for an internship which is not an easy thing to do since internships are rarely heard of in Taiwan. I have another interview tomorrow. Are you one of those people that get nervous during interviews? I am…until I started doing them in CHINESE! Now that I look back on it, interviews in English are a piece of cake! Wish me luck for tomorrow!
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Hoping for an Internship
One more week of classes. I can’t believe how fast this semester has gone by. I’ll be busy preparing for finals since I have 3 at the end of the week. Although it’s been a short semester, I can feel that a lot of people are ready to go home. Especially since the holidays are right around the corner, people want to be home with family.
I got an offer for an internship with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) but I can only start working once I get my work permit all figured out. It’s a little complicated to get work permits in Taiwan since the unemployment rate here is so high. I’m really hoping things will work out since being in Taiwan for the next few months with nothing to do would be a bummer. Wish me luck!!!
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