English 280: The Journalistic Essay

By Ricardo Fidalgo

August 28, 2008 is a new day for Yang Shang’s life. After 24 hours of suffering on a boring and monotonous flight from China, the plane finally lands at Logan Airport. Among hundreds of Chinese passengers, Yang gets off the plane and looks around with high expectations. It is her first contact with Western culture. She is impressed by the environment. The blue sky and the fresh air seem to foreshadow a great experience for her at Bridgewater State College. Her first thought was “will I feel safe at Bridgewater State College?” Trying to conquer her fears and anxieties she maneuvers her way through the large Boston airport.

She takes a seemingly short train ride to Bridgewater, where the college staff welcomes her and makes all the arrangement so that her experience will be the best possible. As she moves forward with her stay, everything began to change. Her impressions about the U.S. only got better the more time she spent here. Before coming to Bridgewater she blamed Americans for their individualism. “Before coming here I thought Americans were self-centered and selfish” she said, but now she sees that America is what it is because of its individualism. She learned a valuable lesson that she believes she will be able to put into practice when she goes back home.
A lot of international students had some kind of stereotypes or even bad impressions about United States back home, but when they came to Bridgewater State College in this exchange program they began exploring better American culture and style of life and as a result they became fond of this country. The Shadow was scattered and the reality shined before their eyes, and as a result their impressions about US changed for better.
According to Harold Tavares, International Relation Coordinator at Bridgewater State College, all the people that are in charge of international students promote wonderful activities on Campus to reduce their stress and home sickness. They   hold meetings to know academic and social problems that they face and work hard to find solutions.
Besides Academic activities, cultural programs are held to help them be in touch with their native country and socialize with American culture.”Normally we involve them in cultural activities in order for them to feel comfortable, to have fun and to appreciate the experience they are having at Bridgewater.” said Tavares.
According to this coordinator they brought Capeverdean international students to a famous Capeverdean concert and other international students had opportunity to see a Celtics game in Boston. This along with other cultural activities held on campus helped them integrate in American society; gave them opportunity to overcome their anxiety and stress and feel at home. In addition, they were put in close contact with American culture and their impressions about United States changed for better.
Yang is an international student that came from Beijing, the famous Olympic city, the capital of China, where the Great Wall stands, and a major center for tourists from all over the world. After majoring in English she has come to Bridgewater to get her master’s degree. She came from a collectivist and high-context culture, where people are regarded as deeply committed to each other. They value the society over themselves and societies goals over their own.
Back home she helped a lot of people who needed her help but when she needed support from them, they generally refused to lend a hand in her time of need. Now that she understands that American individualism is actually beneficial to not only the individual but also society as well, she is appreciating and being deeply impacted by this American ideal. “I think that Americans are happy because each person minds his or her own business” she said “nobody will be stressed because of others’ problem” she added. Taking this fact into consideration, she decided that when she goes back home she will adopt an individualistic style of life without going to an extreme.
As a matter of fact, the opportunity she is having here to improve her language skills is by far superior to in English non- native country like China. She is enjoying her experience because her level of English language proficiency is improving considerably. Now she appreciates the level of the Educational system in USA, especially at Bridgewater State College. “In my opinion their educational system is better” she said “especially for those that are majoring in English” she added.
Yang is not the only Chinese exchange student that is appreciating and adjusting to American culture. Juan Du is a good example of International student that this exchange program made fond of USA. Knowing previously that she was coming to a country of opportunity her academic ambitions were very high. The facilities she had here, the internet access, the support at Academic Achievement Center along with the classroom environment fascinated her. She is now a true admirer of this wonderful country.
Although from the same country (China) as Yang, Juan is from different city whose name is Tai Yuan, six hour trains ride from Beijing. Like Yang, Juan majored in English at a university in China and came to Bridgewater specifically to do her master degree. She is twenty two years old and she wants to have a brilliant future. So, coming to Bridgewater helps her develop her language skills, gain more accuracy and proficiency.
Yang is appreciating her experience at Bridgewater. She has had some outstanding professors here, she found the level of participation in the classroom extremely beneficial, and she found that the professional attitudes of Americans were wonderful. Coming to a democratic country where she can express herself freely touches close to her heart. She is cherishing every single moment she is having here because she understands that the level of expression allowed in her home country is extremely limited. The United States is now a “paradise” away from home for her.
Yang and Juan are not the only international students that the Exchange program has helped, and without the Exchange Program they would not be able to appreciate the American culture. Anas Tweiger is another one that is appreciating the freedom and liberty that characterizes American society. “They (Americans) have freedom of speech” he said.
Anas came from a small city in Jordan named Tafila, where in the past, people depended mostly on agriculture to survive and they didn’t have that kind freedom. In a city that didn’t have electricity until 1986, he was astonished by the level of technological advancement that was seemingly endless in every part of the United States.
He left behind his beautiful wife and two kids to come to Bridgewater State College to get his master’s degree in Business Management. He is homesick, but whenever he calls back home, he informs his wife of wonderful friends he made at Bridgewater.
Before coming to America he only received information about USA in magazines, television, and newspapers. When he got here his mind opened to a new world, where he could find peace, freedom and emancipation “in the past I couldn’t be in touch with Americans, so it wasn’t until I got here that I began exploring great things about their culture” said Anas. The way Americans express themselves in the classroom amazes him almost as much as the level of technology that he found simply in the Bridgewater State College library.
Anas is Muslim and coming to a country where he would find peace and liberty to worship his God freely is something that has significantly increased his respect for the American culture. In fact, he does not have anything to complain about. There are some aspects of American society that run counter to his beliefs, but he prefers to be open-minded and respect American culture even when he normally wouldn’t approve of it.
He made friends in the U.S. especially the older people who were more interested in knowing about other cultures,”I had a good experience here. I love American people, especially in this town”, he told me.
According to Harold Tavares, the impact is stronger in those students who do not have a large community in the US; since in their country they have less opportunity to be in touch with American lifestyle. They are confined by the only information they receive by the Media, which sometimes distorts the image of the US for political purposes. So, when they get here and they see how things function in reality, they become extremely impressed.
Those that come to the American colleges to study will be able to be in touch with Americans and then overcome stereotypes they had previously. As a matter of fact, in some countries, the image of the US broad cast by the Media is extremely negative and cast the United States in a horrible light. People without knowing Americans well, start to blame and depreciate their culture without being able to know the truth. But when they came to a situation that they are in close contact with the reality, the shadow they had in their mind disappeared.
Since a lot of students are so grateful for the opportunity to study here they often forgot all the biases and stereotypes against United States that they had back home and they start to see American culture in a different light.
Rather than war and violence, The U.S. found a strategy to make friends and “ambassadors” all over the world. “You bring students here to study when they go back home they are your friends. This is a good strategy to make your enemies becoming your friends” said Basan Nembirkow, Superintendent of Brockton Public Schools. In the case of these international students, they were not United States enemies, but some of them had some bad impressions of American culture and when they came to Bridgewater they had opportunity to explore American lifestyle and were able to change their minds freely without the influence of political propaganda.
“It is good to have international students in U.S. because when they go back to their country they will be American ‘ambassadors’ there” said Anas. All those students that are impressed with the freedom, liberty, American level of education, and culture are willing to share it back home in order to improve the image of U.S. in their country.
The exchange program changed their view of America for better, and they are very grateful for that. The freedom of speech and other liberties here have made them fond of this nation; so much so that they do not want to be silent about their ideas and beliefs when they go back to their native country. Bridgewater has produced so many American “ambassadors”; many people will speak on the US behalf when they go back to their country.