I am flooded with emotions as I sit
through this extremely long plane ride, which signifies the end of my study
abroad experience. It is hard to believe
that my time in Southeast Asia has come to an end and that there are so many
people that have become a part of my life that I may never see again. I am just
so grateful for having such an experience that makes saying goodbye so hard. It
is funny that on this plane ride there is not much to do and it provides me
with the perfect time to reflect on the past four months of my life. Having the
opportunity to study abroad has allowed me grow in ways I did not expect it to
and I am extremely grateful for it. This past semester has made me hardier,
more patient, more reflective, grateful, humble, and wiser. I am not the same
person I was when I left America. As I think back to my hectic, surprising and
emotion-filled first day in Asia it reminds me that life tends to go in full
circle, with my last day in Asia also being relatively hectic, slightly
surprising, and emotion-filled but for different reasons.
To try to fully recap my study
abroad experience in this short piece is a taxing task but I will do my best.
After a few months of preparation and lots of emotional goodbyes, I set off on
August 5th to spend the next four months of my life studying in
Singapore. Leaving America, I was quite the inexperienced traveler, not quite
sure what to expect, not sure of the level of autonomy I would need to live on
my own, not particularly familiar with life too far outside of my comfort zone,
and not as mature as I find myself to be now. What I did have going for me was
that I came into the experience excited, open minded, and prepared to grow as
much as I could from this humbling adventure.
Upon arriving in Singapore I found
myself amidst many other exchange students who were excited, experiencing
culture shock, but also very eager to immerse ourselves a new culture. During
the first few weeks I found it very easy to make lots of acquaintances, a nice
handful of which went on to become important characters in this chapter of my
life’s story. There is so much to be told about other cultures that I would
have never have learned if I had not bothered to make friends that are from
different parts of the world. One of the main cultures I got to learn about was
Chinese, from my roommate Vivian. We would talk for hours on end about our
cultures, views of the world, and the future. I made quite a few friends that
are from different parts of Asia and learned about their various types of food,
languages, generally collectivistic cultures, and the things they place value
on while also being able to reciprocate it. The friends I made from Europe,
Africa, and Australia were also very memorable and I thoroughly enjoyed
learning about the different aspects of culture that are present in other
cultures of the world.
To say the
education system in Singapore was interesting was an understatement. I found
some similarities between Nanyang Technological University and Central Michigan
University and some profound differences. NTU was recognizably similar as a
university in that the teachers here also seem to truly care about student’s
success, lectures are held a couple of times per week for each class along with
office hours, extracurricular activities are available, and students are hard
working. The main differences I found were in the idea of tutorials, final
examination procedures, and being able to monitor your grades. Tutorials at NTU
are held once a week for each course, allowing a TA to help recap and provide
additional addition to supplement each lecture. Final examinations lasted three
weeks and were administered by a group of invigilators in a testing room
instead of lecture halls. And grades were not accessible for the most part
during the semester. While Blackboard had the space for you to monitor grades,
most professors did not seem to stay updated with grades throughout the
semester. You were just expected to do your absolute best on every assignment
and hope you are doing well. Also, grades are administered on a curve and your
grade depends on how well you do in comparison to your classmates. Classes were
not too difficult but the culture of classes was much different than what I am
used to.
With
Singapore being a multicultural society, it was not difficult to find people of
different cultural backgrounds living and working in harmony. Singaporeans also
pride themselves on being global citizens and open to learning about cultures
outside of their own. Living in Singapore I was mainly exposed to Chinese,
Indian, and Malay culture. I was able to partake in holiday celebrations such
as Deepavali, Mid Autumn festival during this semester and it has been a nice
gateway into learning about other Southeast Asian cultures. In addition to the immersion of Asian culture
through people and food in Singapore, I had the opportunity to travel on short
trips to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Philippines and learn heaps
about those cultures as well. Seeing the ways of life for people in other
countries has given me a greater appreciation for diversity. As the world
becomes even more diverse, it is important to appreciate and learn about other
cultures. People from different cultures seem to have different, but equally
valid ways of looking at the world. I also learned about concepts that do not
even exist or are rare in my culture are common in others such as Singaporean kiasu, Japanese hokikimori, and the idea of enemyships.
I
would encourage everyone to take on experiences where they will be exposed to
diversity and multiculturalism; it can truly alter the way you look at the
world. I think all students should study abroad. My advice would be to choose a
country or region that you find particularly interesting, be open to
experiences, talk to locals and set goals for your time studying abroad.
This
semester has made an impact on the way I will take on CMU when I come back.
This semester has allowed me to become a much stronger student. By having to
compete for grades, I really had to step my studying up and really stay on top
of it. Since I did not know how well I was doing or how well others were doing
I had to do my absolute best. During finals weeks I studied from dawn to dusk
in preparation for exams and it really paid off. I had never spent that much
time studying in my life but it is nice to know that my limits are much further
than I though.
Being
abroad will also have an impact on my life in general. Living on my own has
allowed me to gain practical skills that I can use in everyday life. One of the
most obvious is traveling. I have learned how to find and navigate the various
types of transportation that I had absolutely no experience with before. I also
had to truly budget during this time. I had to monitor how much I was spending
on food, entertainment, travel, souvenirs, and personal items because I had a
set amount of money to live off of during the semester abroad. My communication
skills have improved greatly as a result of this semester. I was required to
give presentations for all classes at some point in the semester, I had to
effectively learn to understand the various accents that were thrown at me on a
daily basis, and I needed to be able to effectively communicate to people that
did not speak English using nonverbal communication. My desire and ability to
maintain interpersonal relationships has also been enhanced as a result of
being abroad. Not only did I have to focus on relationships that were forming
here in Singapore, I had to actively nurture relationships with friends and
family back home. It is certainly not easy to keep up with people that you
would normally run into during daily activities from such a long distance.
All in all,
this study abroad experience has certainly been one that I will never forget.
It has been lots of fun, exciting, and filled with joy while sometimes being
sad, confusing, and lonely. It has
caused me to completely leave my comfort zone, become a better communicator,
world traveler, and global citizen. This has given me a more open-minded view
of the world while also realizing that anything is possible with faith,
passion, and hard work. I am sad that this chapter of my life is coming to an
end but that only gives room for the next chapter to begin. The plane trip is
coming to an end and we will be reaching America shortly. I am looking forward
to being greeted with lots of love from my family and friends as I step off the
plane and turn the page to start a new chapter of my life. Zai jian!
