My Life as a Student

       I have been a student when I was seven years old, and I have spent my life through elementary school, middle school and high school, all in China where I received Chinese style of education. When I was nineteen years old, I took the National College Entrance Examination in China which is called one of the hardest exams on earth. Soon after that, my life suddenly changed because I immigrated to United States with my family. I then entered LaGuardia Community College, which is located in Queens, New York. Till now, I have spent more than two years in this college, and I love the days as a college student.

       The reason why I like LaGuardia is that it attracts students from different countries. They have different life styles and speak different mother languages. They study here for many reasons, and it is amazing for me to understand their cultures and to know their stories. I have changed a little bit than the one I was two years ago. When I was in the campus for the first day, everything looked new to me and the biggest barrier for me is language. English is so much different from Chinese, and I felt very nervous at the beginning when I started studying at LaGuardia College. I’m afraid to speak in public and I had a hard time to understand the course. I took ESL class first because only I passed the exam, I could take my major request classes. At that time，I met a very nice professor. She is an amazing lady with white curly hair. I really enjoyed her teaching style because she spoke very clearly, and encouraged us to ask questions in the class. I was embarrassed and nervous at first since I couldn’t even speak a whole complete sentence in English. Usually, I always sat in the back of the classroom. My ESL professor noticed that so she put me in a small group in which all the group mates were from different countries. We were all new students and couldn’t speak fluent English. Every group mate worked and tried their best to explain their ideas, and so did I. As time went by, I realized that different countries have different cultures; moreover, my spoken English was getting better. At the end of the semester, we stood in the front of the class and began our final presentation with confidence. I couldn’t believe my English improved so fast in that class.

I feel much more confident now since I got a lot of “A”s in my other classes, and I made a lot of friends in the college. Through course studies and daily communicating with teachers and classmates, I have improved my English skills a lot. This semester is my last semester to study in LaGuardia, because I will graduate and transfer to a four-year-college. Now I have confidence about my future and I’m sure I will have a better life in the four-year-college.