For DR.SAMUELSON

Abdullah Haggi

ENGL1010

Non- Academic Discourse

September 30.2015

Shelly Halling

Saudi club class

When I was in Saudi Arabia I joined in many clubs and I had many experiences, learned tons of information from joining those clubs. But there is one club called Saudi Student Club at Utah State University (SSCUSU), founded in 2010 and I cannot forget it for all my life because when I came to U.S. in December 2014 that club helped me a lot to be more confortable and to know where my school and my classes were. Then when I had 9 months in U.S. I had learned many skills. I decided to be in that club so I could payback what it has done for me. There are many requirements I had to meet before joining that club and one of the requirements is “have nine months or more than that at USU.” The reason of that rule is to have enough knowledge about the University and the city. Also, I have joined this club for many reasons such as improving my self and to be more social. Finally, this club gives me an experience, which will help me in my academic discourse.

When I was in Saudi Arabia I decided to study abroad in the U.S., so I just asked my father about that, and he told me that he agreed to me studying abroad in U.S. So I had to search and ask my friends about the universities in the U.S. and find a good university for my major. Finally, I found Utah State University and it’s a good choice for my major Computer Science. I completed the USU applications, sent all my school documents, and paid the entire fee I need to pay. Then I got accepted to USU, and I was so happy for that. moreover, I found Logan city is a free place from crimes. I opened the website to find more information about the city. I found the Saudi Student Club at Utah State University (SSCUSU) on the Facebook. So I just sent an e-mail to them and said “I am coming to Logan to study Computer Science, and I do not have any information about the city and about the houses in Logan, also I do not speak English very well, So can you guys help me with that?” After one day I received an e-mail from them and found all the information I wanted in that email. They said “We will be in the airport to pick you up and show everything you need to know in Logan.” So I was so happy because they helped me. Moreover, when I arrived in Logan, they gave me a free room until I found a new apartment. So the club job is about helping all the new students from Saudi Arabia in everything they need and make them feel more confortable and safe.

For every existing Club there’s a set of rules and leadership pyramids, and the rules are basically that the volunteer needs to be a Saudi student at USU, have more than 9 months at USU, have a good knowledge about the university and the city, enough knowledge about the university and the city, help all the students with a happy face, need to have at least 3.0 GPA, and have a good English language. All these rules help to make who leave his/her family and come to study feel more safe and happy, because its difficult for the students to leave their families, friends, country, his/her life and live in the new country and new area.

I had many reasons why I wanted to join this club, basically to help the new students, share my culture and my experience, to be more social, help to have a good information and knowledge, and to have an excellent CV. It’s really important to me because my future company requires me to have an excellent CV to reflect everything I did in my education.

This club helps me more with the academic discourse. For instance, I am taking academic classes and those classes require me to be more fluent in English language. Since I go and talk to different sites or different people, I feel I got that skill. Also, this club has members from all ages and quit of them are older than me. I think this is a benefit for me so I can gain some experience from them. For example, I have met Yousof he was in Aviation program and have a scholarship from Saudia Airline. He was the first one who created this group and I learned how to manage this club and deal with great people. It is a great opportunity to have a subculture here in U. S., which makes us share and explain our culture to Americans. Moreover, I have many classes I need to share my opinion. In the meanwhile we are supposed to speak more English and to be fluent speakers. Also, in order to be a membership of this club I have to have at least 3.0 on your GPA which I am blessed to have this rule so I keep working hard and to keep my GPA up.

In conclusion, I found that joining a non-academic discourse helped my academic life in many aspects. First, I could be introduce to the options of studying aboard, and with the help of my, future classmates at the time, I got to know more about Utah state university. Second, getting to involve in the Saudi Student club at USU allowed me to live a unique experience. Third, the rules applied to us helped to develop a unique approach to social life within USU campus. This allowed me to make friends with many international student and American as will. Fourth, having the outcome from the previous experiences allowed me to involved with all my sensation in the academic life. Having the wright friends and write mental preparation made it much easier. I owe my friends and the Saudi the club everything for letting me live this wonderful experience.