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Shiying Huang
Tong Yu
ENG107
Sep 30, 2014
My Identity As An International Student
Who am I? It is a question that everyone will ask themselves at some point and
we will get different answers during different times across the lifespan. As far as I am
concerned, I believe that how we define ourselves will be influcenced by our
surroundings. So every time we move to a different place or get involved into a
different group, we will reposition ourselves.
I prefer to call myself an international student at this stage.
For an international student, studying here involves not simply taking classes and
doing homework. It is also necessary to adapt or adjust to the American cultural
system. How to form friendships with people from other cultures? How do we see the
world differently? Can we judge the behavior of other groups? There are so many
questions in my mind.
One challenge I faced was how to start conversations with students from
othercountries. Because of the different nationalities and life experiences, there is
always a big gap between students from different countries. I found it really difficult
to bridge the gap and start a conversation.
Fisrt day I attended the wpc101 class, I sat with three American classmates. They
shook hands with each other and started talking quickly before I could notice. They
talked about their high school, about latest news and about interesting things they met
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these days. I wanted to join the chat but all I could do is sit there and smile, acting like
I was not upset. Will it make me someone rude if I jump into the conversation? What
do they prefer to hear from me? What should I say to make a good first impression? I
was concerned about those questions during the whole class but never could start
talking. At the end of the class, the girl sitting next to me asked for my Facebook
accounts but I didn’t remember it! I felt so embarrassed that even forgot to ask for her
phone number. All I could think about in the next whole week was that whether they
would think of me as a joke.
I can handle this kind of situations. We always talk with others who have
something in commonbecause it is earlier to communicate and understand each other.
