english essay about international student

Unit 5 final

Mingtao Xia

Mason Hopkins

To think that, one…

When we discuss about to international students, we usually see them in different ways. Some people think international students should be independent, smart, curious, enthusiastic, competitive and tough. But some people will think they are still a student; they are soft and needed. The last argument I was talking about how I act as an international student who is having an interactive conversation between children and parents by telling them the truths frankly, which is about how you experience your life, how you feel impressed or depressed, and family always support you. However, besides this great characteristics, I have to say there are different situations that we need to take consideration. Here, I want to discuss with you how independent can actually help yourself in developing your mental resistance and how your family atmosphere will benefit.

Honestly, independent is hard, especially for every international student goes new to a country. Since the moment they left their parents, they started to experience freedom, excitement, and helpless. Returning to the reality of living itself can never be planned. They began to do their laundry, and they began to manage their dietary habit and cook their own meals. All of these things are completely a brand new chapter for most of the international students. Those are the basic things that will ignore when their parents are around. But when it comes to the hardest part was letting go not taking part. They are leaving their comfort zone without preparation. However, there is always a moment start be independent and face reality somehow, studying abroad is a process that is pushing forward this moment to come earlier.

I know, every beginning is hard, you need to explore and study step by step. During the first year I had been aboard, I acted like I was independent enough to handle my life, I acted I was brave enough to push myself by breaking every obstacle. I believed that I had already become a grownup who was mature enough to live independently and devoid of giving burdens to my family. I found that whenever I had difficulties, I fell in a self-struggling dilemma. I cannot help myself to manage the emotion of loneliness and helplessness, and had to keep mute in front of my parents about my difficulties for there was always a voice in my head reminding me: ‘don’t make your parents worry about you.’ Sometimes, life is too hard to be real, faking is always the best way to avoid the pressure and anxiety.

Right now, what are we actually discussing about? First, living abroad, in another word is getting into a new environment and society. Secondly, being independent is for everyone, no matter they are international or not, nobody can avoid. Last but not least, no matter how we judge being independent, even you think it is bad and harmful, it will happen eventually to everyone but in a different way and different extent. So, I will name this process ‘ grow-up’. Everyone is growing up, but not everyone is mature. What is mature, and how mature is relating to study abroad? Mature is the gap between your subjective world and the objective world. When you fall into the gap, it is called frustration. But when you climb out, it is called growth.

Being an international student is the same process as growth. When every international student starts to feel loneliness and helplessness, they have two options. One, blame on the reality, blame on parents, and start to build up a different personality in yourself which is I’m sad and poor. Secondly, put the thing that destroys you in your heart, in your body and starts to build up another personality which is independent and strong. During the first month, I was in the U.S.; I was broken in pieces completely by a different culture, different environment, and different people. What did I choose, I looked at it, looking at the loneliness and helpless. I put all those things that beat me down in my body. I feel so cruel and so real, which I called it grow-up.

By the end of day, you had already been through those tough time, and your mind keeps telling you ‘to be strong enough, this is just something you must to overcome’ since you start to live your own life at a very early age, you are more mature to face, more open to doing it and you will begin to enjoy a more independent life.

If I can start again, I will not complain about how tough the school life is but face it more maturely; I will not rely on my parents to give me all they have, I will not… I want to tell my parents that I appreciate you send me abroad to accept foreign education and make me feel more confident when I get into the real society, because although it is painful, you, my parents have already done everything for me, it is the time that I can bring you happiness which all by myself.

The famous singer Leonard Norman Cohen said that: ‘ there is a crack in everything.’ And the crack is where the sunlight comes to you.