I grew up in Beijing, the capital and largest city of China, so when I first came to Wooster I was a little bored. I didn’t have a car and wasn’t interested in parties, so walking around campus or playing games alone in my dorm was my only entertainment on Friday nights.
As time went on, I gradually adapted to the place. I found such a simple environment very conducive to learning, and that was the most important purpose for which I had crossed 10,000 kilometers, waited for three years (I had studied at a Chinese university and then dropped out for various reasons), and spent high tuition fees. In addition, I found that such an environment also made it very simple and I hardly spent any time struggling with others.
Even so, Wooster is nowhere near the status of Beijing in my heart, I always miss the family, friends, culture, food, easy access to transportation, etc.
But due to the overly expensive airfare and the almost month-long quarantine policy, I chose to stay here for the summer. Many other Chinese students made the same decision as I did, and it was a very special time for us because it was real-time where you “live” with your classmates (not just study together or have fun together), and we shopped, cooked, talked, walked, played board games, and had a lot of fun together every day.
This semester, I was getting more and more comfortable with the classroom. I remember that at the beginning of my freshman year, I was afraid of group discussions and presentations, and sometimes I couldn’t say a single word. Now although I am still not as good as a native speaker, but I have made a lot of progress compared to my previous self in these two tasks.
In this class (ENGL-20000) and another class called Gender, Genre, and History, I was exposed to a lot of knowledge about “power and gender”, which is rarely talked about in China nowadays, so it was an intellectual innovation for me. When I used this knowledge to look at some literary works and social issues, I gained more perspective. I hope that when I return to China, I can bring this knowledge back with me, so that more people can learn about it and understand it, and so that society can develop in a more equitable and harmonious direction.
I plan to graduate in three years, so I’m already halfway through my time here. One day, a year and a half from now, I can imagine carrying my bags into the trunk, wiping the tears from the corner of my left eye, putting on See You Again, and waiting for the driver to drive me to the airport in Cleveland.
As a person who was born in Ohio and has only been able to leave the country once, I really enjoyed reading your perspective and thoughts as an international student. I think that being able to create a mini home away from home with food and friends and shopping is a way many of us try to starve off the homesickness of being in a new place for the first time. I also agree with you on the most valuable thing a liberal arts education can provide is opening your eyes up to new perspectives and ways of thinking that you will carry and apply for the rest of your life. I hope you have a great year and a half that is left!
Zhongting, I loved your post! Sometimes I forget how much privilege I have in that I can return home relatively easily, and I should recognize how being away from home for that long of a time can be incredibly difficult. I really enjoyed how you contrasted the mood throughout campus during the school year to over the summer, it made me wish that times with friends could always be like that. It’s awesome that you can graduate in three years, as Dylan said I hope the rest goes amazingly! 😀