“The very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream.”- William Shakespeare
Chinese word of the day: Dream 梦想
Chinese word of the day: Dream 梦想
Why I wanted to study abroad
Life begins with a single dream that leads to a journey, but the thing about journeys is that they too begin with a single step. I believe I began to realize my dream at a young age thus my life began and I slowly started my journey. My dream was about equality, diversity and understanding. Growing up when my teachers and friends asked me what I wanted to do, I always said that I wanted travel and study in Asia. I was always passionate when expressing to them that I wanted to achieve fluency not only in Chinese but also Japanese. Always in disbelief, they said my goals should be more realistic, none the less I have persevered and remained hopeful.
The more we understand about another culture and language the more we can break down these culture barriers like stereotyping. In order for our society to work efficiently we must understand each other, embrace our differences, and learn from each other. The Chinese have a saying that I really relate to. It is 做而言不如起而行(zuo er yan bu ru qi er xing). This phrase means that instead of sitting around and talking about something it is better to do it. I have reached the highest level of Chinese courses that Arkansas State University has to offer, so instead of just sitting around and talking about my aspirations of becoming fluent in Chinese I have decided to study abroad.
Life begins with a single dream that leads to a journey, but the thing about journeys is that they too begin with a single step. I believe I began to realize my dream at a young age thus my life began and I slowly started my journey. My dream was about equality, diversity and understanding. Growing up when my teachers and friends asked me what I wanted to do, I always said that I wanted travel and study in Asia. I was always passionate when expressing to them that I wanted to achieve fluency not only in Chinese but also Japanese. Always in disbelief, they said my goals should be more realistic, none the less I have persevered and remained hopeful.
The more we understand about another culture and language the more we can break down these culture barriers like stereotyping. In order for our society to work efficiently we must understand each other, embrace our differences, and learn from each other. The Chinese have a saying that I really relate to. It is 做而言不如起而行(zuo er yan bu ru qi er xing). This phrase means that instead of sitting around and talking about something it is better to do it. I have reached the highest level of Chinese courses that Arkansas State University has to offer, so instead of just sitting around and talking about my aspirations of becoming fluent in Chinese I have decided to study abroad.
How I was able to study abroad
Even though I have always been ambitious in obtaining my goals, I always proved ignorant to the resources available all around me. The truth is there are resources everywhere that can help any student study abroad, money or not. I was able to study abroad because of Arkansas State University, the ASU travel Voucher and the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship.
Below are the links to the ASU study abroad page, travel voucher, and the Gilman Scholarship website. My point for this blog entry is to stress that no matter your aspirations, with determination and knowledge of the resources available you CAN achieve your ambitions.
Even though I have always been ambitious in obtaining my goals, I always proved ignorant to the resources available all around me. The truth is there are resources everywhere that can help any student study abroad, money or not. I was able to study abroad because of Arkansas State University, the ASU travel Voucher and the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship.
Below are the links to the ASU study abroad page, travel voucher, and the Gilman Scholarship website. My point for this blog entry is to stress that no matter your aspirations, with determination and knowledge of the resources available you CAN achieve your ambitions.
Links:
www.iie.org/gilman
www.iie.org/gilman
A special thank you for all the help from: the Gilman Organization, ASU, Dr. Unnold, Carl Lindquist, and the Craighead County Public Library
That's one of my favorite Shakespeare quotes :)
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