People have their own experiences in life. These experiences are learned from making mistakes or observing other people’s mistakes. Such experiences are also learned from personal success or observing other people’s success. I made many mistakes in my life that I learned from and I also made some great decisions that I benefited from. A big part of my experience came from studying abroad. There were many obstacles and I had to sacrifice many things to come to the United States. I suffered at first but then when I learned how to live in the United States my life changed and I feel happy because I think I made the right decision coming to America. My story starts right after graduating from my college in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
After graduating from college, I was confused about whether to study abroad or complete my major in my country. I went directly to my father and consulted him about my situation because I needed advice. However, my father didn’t give me advice but instead he told me ” being far away from your home and your family is not something easy that everyone can deal with; nevertheless, if you decide to go and study abroad I will give you my full support and encourage you forever.” I looked at my father’s eyes and replied that I want to study abroad. Later that night I stayed up in my room thinking about the decision that I made earlier. At the same time, I had many great job offers that pay well, but I decided to follow my dreams to study abroad. I chose the United States of America to start my educational journey abroad. This meant that I had to learn English so I started surfing the web looking for a good English institute where I could start learning this universal language that p most of the world speaks. I decided to start my journey in Maryland. I bought my ticket to the United States, packed my stuff, my father gave me some money, and then I started my journey.
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I thought about many things while I was on the plane, and felt many feelings. When I first got on the plane I tried to calm myself because saying goodbye to my family and friends in Saudi Arabia was difficult. I started thinking about the time that I`d spend in the United States. I wondered how hard it would be to make friends in America and I had a lot of questions in my mind about the culture and about the people. I wondered again if this is the right decision to make then I told myself that I’m an adult now and it’s time to take control of my life. I also felt that this time in my life is the perfect time to learn more, work more and shape my future plans. I felt that I was going to start a new life where I will have many responsibilities and many challenges. I took a deep breath and calmed myself and finally arrived in the United States.
When I arrived in the United States, I only knew a few basic English words, so I faced many fears and some problems. I arrived in the United States and had my first problem in the airport when the man in the airport started asking me questions about how long I was staying, where I was staying and why I was in America. I didn’t know how to reply to these answers, I felt like I could speak English well enough and I started mumbling some words. I wasn’t the first arrival to the United States that couldn’t speak English well, so the man handled the situation quite well. After that I went to my apartment that I chose before arriving, and thus began my life in Maryland. After a week of placement tests and orientations, I went to my first day of classes at the institute, I was very excited, yet I was afraid. I didn’t know how to communicate with other people, my language was very poor and my communication skills weren’t that great either. Another obstacle that I faced is the big difference between teaching style in America and teaching style in Saudi Arabia. I really wasn’t used to this new style of teaching, I also wasn’t used to coed classes because in Saudi Arabia all the classes are single-sex classes. I also couldn’t sleep at night sometimes because I was excited and afraid at the same time. I was always looking for the next day to come, but at the same time I was afraid of the next day. So I had this system where I`d stay up all night and think about the next day.
After two weeks of studying, I overcame my fears and I started organizing myself and my time to make the most out of my journey to the United States. All the things that I was afraid of, culture, communication, making friends were all related to the level of English I spoke. The more I learned English, the more I made friends and adjust to the American lifestyle. I saw a lot of international students in the institute who suffered from the same things that I suffered from. I also saw them trying harder and learning faster than me in those few weeks. I felt motivated and I felt the need to become better than them to prove to myself that I was also trying hard. Therefore, I had to study English more. I felt that I was not learning enough from the institute so I had to use various methods of improving my English language learning. I started by watching a movie twice a week in English, watching the daily news, reading the papers and engaging in conversations with other people on the bus or the subway. I was able to improve greatly in a short time and I managed to make a lot of friends and I`ve learned something from each one of them. I applied for a scholarship from SACM (Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission), and my dream was to get accepted into this great scholarship.
After six months, I got an acceptance letter from SACM, and I felt that I started succeeding in my journey. However, having a scholarship is a big responsibility. When I got the scholarship from SACM I felt the need to work harder than before. They’ve accepted me and gave me a scholarship which means they trusted me and I was afraid to let them down. After getting accepted into the scholarship, I`ve decided to move from Maryland to another place where I can study English in a more academic wayto prepare myself for the university. I had many choices because there are a lot of good schools in the United States, but I decided to go to Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia. I didn’t realize how hard it would be to leave Maryland until I had to move. I had such a great time there and I learned many things from the students, the teachers and all the people there. Even though I liked Maryland, it was time for me to go to a better institution to learn more. Moving from Maryland to Atlanta was much easier than I thought, a main reason for that is the improvement of my English language which helped me to find an apartment and register at the institution much easier and faster than when I had to register in Maryland.
In Atlanta, I faced a lot of challenges and obstacles, but I learned a lot and finished my language requirements there. The institute which I studied at in Maryland and the one I went to in Atlanta were different from one another. The one in Maryland is more suitable for people with a poor language. On the other hand, the institution in Atlanta is for a higher level of English and that was the first challenge I faced in Atlanta. The level of students there is higher and more intellectual, and the teaching methods were also different. Another obstacle I faced while learning academic English is that the movies that I used to learn from and the stories I used to read were not enough to teach me difficult academic words. So I had to come up with a new way to learn English outside of the institution. Also, it was time for me to take the IELTS test, because it’s requirement of the universities and I myself wanted to determine my English level to know my standing. My skills in English started developing and I took the test more than one time and my grade was increasing each time. This allowed me to know that I’m learning more every day. At last, I got the grade that I wanted, and I started applying to universities, and my dream was to study in California. Finally, I got accepted at the university and came to California to start my new journey.
When I graduate from the university I`ll go back to Saudi Arabia with a big smile on my face and with many experiences in my mind. Coming to the United States is the best decision I`ve made in my life. Not only have my English skills developed, but my communication skills, my thinking methods, my knowledge about different cultures, and meeting people from around the globe is a great experience that I`d never have experienced if I didn’t come to the United States. The one big lesson that I learn is not to give up and to always follow my dreams until all of them come true.
