Thinking globally

Thinking Globally Joey Lin Although on paper my cultural background might seem fairly straightforward, I believe that the cultural experiences in my life have had an enormous impact on the person I am today. I no longer think of myself as simply a Taiwanese, but rather an international student. I feel that it is one of my strengths as an applicant to take this opportunity to explain what being an international student means to me, how it affects me in my life, and what I feel I can add to a college community. I was raised in Taipei city located in Taiwan (R. O. C); it is a large city with the population approximately 3. 2 million. The urban society and the culture have made me an open-mined and a commutative person. The multi-culture background of the city fascinated me; it has inspired me to propose the idea of being an international student to my parents. During my high school career, I have had the opportunity to live in a different country, all the way across the world. This experience has allowed me to acquire a knowledge and understanding of a different culture. There is both a breadth and depth to this knowledge. In terms of breadth, I have experienced several of cultural differences things such as language, food, manners, and different outlooks on life. I have not only experienced, but also embraced parts of the respective cultures. For example, sarcasm is not a common use of language expression in my homeland, but I often catch myself speaking it in Taiwan; however, people do not usually get it, It is, however, quite ubiquitous among Americans. There are also struggles in, being an International student; is not an easy task, but I have grown and learned to be on my own. The language barrier has been greatest weakness, but I continue to defeat this massive obstacle. The language limitation has forced me to learn English at an incredibly fast rate to approach and communicate with my peers and host family. Initially, I was dejected and exhausted because I could not express my words and emotions in a novel language. For the first time, I felt as if I was going around the same loop over and over again; however, I realized that if I don’t try to get out of loop, I will stay with my problems in there forever. Fortunately, my friends I made in school taught me to use English correctly and helped me to step up. I am really thankful for them for helping to teach me this new language and culture. I have been able to experience various cultures of the United States, and also the diverse cultures of my fellow students. Along with the experience of living overseas, has truly made me an international student. Having the opportunity to live overseas and experience this different culture has had a huge impact on me; my awareness of other culture has increased dramatically. As a result of this, I feel that I could be a valuable member of a college community. Also, I have a broader worldview than other students, which would help promote a creative thinking by approaching issues and problems from different perspectives. In addition, my diverse background has prepared me well for future career success in a global society. Speaking two languages fluently and having acquaintances all over the world is useful in any profession. To me, being an international student means that I have experiences and have become aware of various cultures; I strongly believe that because of this background, I could add a great deal to a college community.