Have you ever?
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live your life differently? What would have happened had you chosen a different path? If you were born in a different time or place? What life could be like if you followed your imagination rather than sticking to your carefully created plans?
I have always longed to travel. My mother was born in Canada and only moved to the US for her PhD. From her I learned of life in a different country and throughout my childhood I periodically boarded planes to visit relatives in Canada. I fell in love with airports because they meant I was about to see places and people I rarely saw. From my father I gained a longing to see places outside of North America. My father works for the university and I can remember him traveling to India, to the Republic of Georgia, to Japan. I remember him leaving to places I struggled to picture as a child and thus I began to want to see these places as well.
When I entered university I had a carefully crafted plan: I knew what I wanted to study, I knew the field I wanted to end up working in, and I knew that I wanted to study abroad. I had decided that I would study abroad in my third year of university - late enough that I would have enough pre-recs completed to be able to take whatever classes I fancied, but early enough so as not to mess with my senior year projects.
As you can see, the program that I decided on was a one semester exchange at the City University in Hong Kong. Many people have asked me 1) where is Hong Kong and 2) why there??? Asia has always fascinated me; it was my favorite region to study in school but the history and culture of such a vast region tends to be only skimmed over in the US public school system, meaning that every encounter I had was akin to finding a hidden treasure. And so I decided that I would like to focus on Asia, to learn more about it, to one day work in Asia. And having decided that I rammed head first into a wall that seemed unsurpassable: I will never speak another language. I have tried many times and failed regardless of the language. How can I go into a foreign country and expect people to speak English if I cannot speak their language? It is truly a great barrier when traveling but there is always a solution and it was one that my high school education had actually provided to me: Hong Kong was British governed until 2000. Therefore, I could travel to Hong Kong and still expect to find many people who speak English.
"Choose your own adventure." I have been following this ISU catchphrase continuously in college, choosing to double major, to enter the honor's program, to take interesting classes even if they will only count as electives, to study abroad. I sat down one week and looked through the study abroad website, compiling a list of programs that interested me. On that list was an exchange program that would let me study in Hong Kong while paying the same tuition as if I had remained in Ames. I walked into the study abroad center and they helped me through the application process.
In less than three weeks I will be arriving in a city of 7 million, to a dorm room with a roommate whose name I do not know, to attend classes that have not yet been finalized. I've often wondered what life would be like were I to be born somewhere else and now I will soon find out. Having lived my entire life in Ames I am about to experience what being a minority feels like. Being used to planning and preparing months ahead of time, I am actually enjoying the fact that time is treated differently and that there are now things I cannot prepare for (although I will definitely still be glad when I receive my class list for the fall!). Having decided to attend my local university I am about to experience what it would be like to leave my home for months without return. So tell me, have you ever wondered what life would be like were you to take a different path? Because if so, I think I've found a possible option :)
I have always longed to travel. My mother was born in Canada and only moved to the US for her PhD. From her I learned of life in a different country and throughout my childhood I periodically boarded planes to visit relatives in Canada. I fell in love with airports because they meant I was about to see places and people I rarely saw. From my father I gained a longing to see places outside of North America. My father works for the university and I can remember him traveling to India, to the Republic of Georgia, to Japan. I remember him leaving to places I struggled to picture as a child and thus I began to want to see these places as well.
When I entered university I had a carefully crafted plan: I knew what I wanted to study, I knew the field I wanted to end up working in, and I knew that I wanted to study abroad. I had decided that I would study abroad in my third year of university - late enough that I would have enough pre-recs completed to be able to take whatever classes I fancied, but early enough so as not to mess with my senior year projects.
As you can see, the program that I decided on was a one semester exchange at the City University in Hong Kong. Many people have asked me 1) where is Hong Kong and 2) why there??? Asia has always fascinated me; it was my favorite region to study in school but the history and culture of such a vast region tends to be only skimmed over in the US public school system, meaning that every encounter I had was akin to finding a hidden treasure. And so I decided that I would like to focus on Asia, to learn more about it, to one day work in Asia. And having decided that I rammed head first into a wall that seemed unsurpassable: I will never speak another language. I have tried many times and failed regardless of the language. How can I go into a foreign country and expect people to speak English if I cannot speak their language? It is truly a great barrier when traveling but there is always a solution and it was one that my high school education had actually provided to me: Hong Kong was British governed until 2000. Therefore, I could travel to Hong Kong and still expect to find many people who speak English.
"Choose your own adventure." I have been following this ISU catchphrase continuously in college, choosing to double major, to enter the honor's program, to take interesting classes even if they will only count as electives, to study abroad. I sat down one week and looked through the study abroad website, compiling a list of programs that interested me. On that list was an exchange program that would let me study in Hong Kong while paying the same tuition as if I had remained in Ames. I walked into the study abroad center and they helped me through the application process.
In less than three weeks I will be arriving in a city of 7 million, to a dorm room with a roommate whose name I do not know, to attend classes that have not yet been finalized. I've often wondered what life would be like were I to be born somewhere else and now I will soon find out. Having lived my entire life in Ames I am about to experience what being a minority feels like. Being used to planning and preparing months ahead of time, I am actually enjoying the fact that time is treated differently and that there are now things I cannot prepare for (although I will definitely still be glad when I receive my class list for the fall!). Having decided to attend my local university I am about to experience what it would be like to leave my home for months without return. So tell me, have you ever wondered what life would be like were you to take a different path? Because if so, I think I've found a possible option :)
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