My autobiography as an international student
Being an international student, I have had very interesting experiences in my educational life, and my aspirations have gone through various transitions over time. Initially, I was just an innocent boy going to school because my parents took me there, and I had no personal objective for studying. It never occurred to me that I would desire studying abroad as an option for advancing my educational achievements. However, this was until one of my classmates told me that he dreamt of going to study in the United States of America. He talked of the good life he hoped to enjoy after studying from an internationally recognizes university. Other than that, he also talked about the glamour of America. Specifically, he mentioned swimming pools and horse riding and all these instilled a desire to experience the cultural difference, which people meet when they study abroad. I soon realized that I also needed to go to an international university for a taste of what cultural differences exist globally.
I come from a family of seven. I have a sweet family, which contains a father, mother, two brothers, and two sisters. I am still single and just 21 years currently. I come from Saudi Arabia and have been studying at the university for a year. Being in my second year now, my opinion for being in university has changed. I am no longer under the thrill of coming to an international university to enjoy swimming pools and horses. I now have the ambition of clearing my education and pursuing a career unlike when the idea of joining an international hit my young mind. Initially, what drove my desire for travelling abroad was what my friend said and the admiration I had on my father. Talking of my father, I noticed him having a unique mastery for the English language. Surprisingly, he could also speak Japanese and Spanish because of his extensive travel abroad and interest in learning foreign cultures. Specifically, when he speaks English, it has no accent contrary to what other elders speak. He has diverse knowledge about different cultures and communicates constantly with his American, Japanese and Spanish friends.
Initially Currently
Un-objective Objective
Guided thinking Independent thinking
Cultural passion Cultural passion
Personal study Classroom study
No travel passion Travel passion
On a personal level, I learnt that I was passionate about other cultures, music and arts. This stirred the love for learning foreign languages and I make it a personal effort to learn English. I read and memorize vocabularies as well as reading magazines and looking up all foreign words from the dictionary. I look up for the meanings of words, their synonyms and antonyms. After careful study of a word, checking out sentence examples, I write the things I learnt in my scrapbook. I did that for a long time and when it came to my choice for a course abroad, I had no problems reading the instructions and requirements. I chose to further study foreign languages for the advancement of my capacity to live abroad.
I still feel a passion for studying foreign languages. The language of my absolute interest is English because at campus, I find English lessons refreshing instead of the tedious effort I put to learn it by myself. In school, I have enough opportunities for learning how to write and speak English fluently. My professors are outstanding and the competition presented by my classmates is always a constant reminder that I need to work harder. I have learnt to think independently through my studies. While during my early days of studying English by myself, I currently have the chance of sharing my studies in a diversified manner through literary and cultural opportunities. I can now read literary works and analyze films and advertisements. In class, we also have discussions, debates and arguments, which help in development of independent thinking and perfection of intercultural communication. I now have a literary appreciation for poetry, foreign culture, history and film-related courses.
It is also important noting that my dream for enjoying the entertainment of foreign lands has not died. I involve myself in various activities beyond campus life enjoying the presence of foreign life and foreigners. These are places where people from across the world meet and they have different interests in the arts and music. I am growing fond of this place and am currently considering taking up a part time job in a nearby coffee shop so I can get the opportunity for meeting more people and knowing them even more. I want to know people beyond the stories I read in books about different cultures.
Next summer, I plan to fulfill my exotic dream. I intend to visit Amsterdam for an explorative trend achievement of the thrill of riding of horses. It is a long journey from my university but I want to have all reasons for my traveling abroad fulfilled before I finish my studies. I need to learn everything I wished to learn and experience every aspect I imagined. This is because I still believe that having touch with dreams in reality is full of satisfaction. I want to see and experience everything I have ever heard and read about being in the United states of America through firsthand experience.
I am very ready to take up my life on a global angle and I am considering taking up a tours and travel course or an airline related job to open up an opportunity for travelling across the world for a chance to learn the cultures of even more communities. This is a new turning my idea of cultural diversity because I no longer want to know people from books, but also to get to the places where they stay and knows them from their cultural localities. I want to experience them share they stay and interact with them as much as possible. I know that as an airline employee, I can travel to many varied countries at very low budgets than when I have to save up for each trip that I am ever to make. I am finally beyond the timid state when my parent made me to go to school. Now, I have a clearer dream than what I had when my education just started.
I want to travel through Australia and to Japan because the rich cultures in those destinations. I know studying different cultures is an opportunity for understanding the challenges, which can come by visiting foreign countries. Learning English is a step towards knowing a global language spoken in many countries across the world making my chances for effectively surviving anywhere in the world high. Through my education, I am well equipped to fulfill my desires to know global cultures from both literary and personal angles.
