Narrative Essay

            Time really went as fast as an arrow. It seems like I entered college with a bit of tension and anticipation just a few days ago, and it is already time to end the first semester. I think I’ve experienced a loads of challenges through this semester. Anais Nin once said, “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” I learned that through facing this challenges and picking up my courage, I can make it even in overwhelming situation. By getting counseling in St. Norbert College, I also realised that there were a loads of courage which enable me to enter St. Norbert College.

            When I was in high school, my grade was bottom because I was not a sincere student. Nevertheless, I had a vague thought that it would be easy to get good grade as soon as I study. But I didn’t study because I was scared. What if I got terrible grade even though I study hard? I was gripped with this fear and did nothing. After I graduate school, I was literally, nothing. I had to do something. I had to face my fear. I decided to gather up my courage and studied hard to go forward. As I studied harder and harder, I decided to become a surgeon and I decided to study abroad to achieve my goal.

Studying abroad was a big deal and needed a huge courage, because everything would change. When I first came to St. Norbert College, I was busy adjusting to everything. Language, food, people, street, building, store, and etc. After the semester began, I struggled with being in class and doing homework. I was so afraid of speaking in English that I barely speak in class. I couldn’t even stay calmly in the classroom. However, through talking to professors, I had courage to manage myself. Their words were great encouragement to me. I didn’t give up but try hard to keep up with the class. I did my best to overcome my anxiety of talking in English, though I still am afraid of it. I could accomplish this semester because of a huge support of the college.

In my country, for students, people used to say, “You can do whatever you want to do if you go to college. So be patient and study.” As they said, when I came to college, I expect that everything will be going well. As I experienced and learned a lot of things during this semester, however, I felt that college itself is never a place to promise the happiness for the future. It is me to build my future, and courage is a huge factor to build colourful and rich future. St. Norbert College helped me a lot to keep heart to face challenging tasks, and I’m sure that St. Norbert College would make me try my best not to lose my courage. 

Similarities and Differences Between Writing Essays in English and Korean

            

            In any country, writing essay must be one of the most difficult tasks for college students. For me, writing an essay is number one challenging thing in college because I had never written essays properly before I came to college. Also, there are so many differences between writing essays in English and Korean because obviously, English and Korean is different language.            

            The major difference between English and Korean is sentence structure and word structure. English has a strict Subject-Verb-Object order. The speaker or writer addresses what a subject is going to do to an object. For example, I(S) play(V) the violin(O). Unlike English, Korean uses a Subject-Object-Verb order in which the speaker or writer addresses the subject then the object and then what is going on to be done to the object. For example, I(S) violin(O) play(V). Also the subject can sometimes be left out of a sentence in Korean. In addition, because Korean is an agglutinative language, verb information such as tense, mood and the social relation between speaker and listener is added successively to the end of the verb. This is in contrast to English which makes extensive use of assistant words(auxiliaries) to convey verb meaning.

            All of these differences between two language make me hard to write essays in English. Writing essays in Korean is tough enough for me as it is. However, even though it takes double time to write essays in English, I’m adapting slowly but consistently in writing essays in English. In any language, it takes time to write an essay, and it needs a lot of practice to write a good essay.

My experience at St. Norbert College

 “Success is 99 percent and 1 percent inspiration”. This quote by Thomas Edison has meant a lot to me. I believe that if you found something that you truly care about, then you should work hard to get it. If you fail at first, then you need to keep trying and trying until you achieve your goal. When we say this person is inspirational, it means that he or she did something unique and had to get through many obstecales. This quote had made me understand that if I want to have something, I cannot have it by sitting around and waiting for it to come to me.

When I first started at St. Norbert College I was afraid, mainly because this is a new experience for me in a new place. I did not know how college level classes are going to be like, or how will my professors teach. This all changes when I met my professors. They told me about themselves and I told them about my fears. They told me that I do not need to fear anything and that I can study and have fun at the same time. My professors’ also helped me to be the best of my ability. Also, they always did their best to assist me. They are amazing. I feel blessed that I get to learn from them. The classes I’m taking are innovative and different from I’m used to. I also appreciate that I can do my homework and be with my friends at the same time. Lastly, I really love the breathtaking scenery of the campus. I also liked the food, especially in the cafeteria because of the options for every meal.

To sum up, I absolutely fell in love with St. Norbert College the minute I stepped on campus. I felt like this is where I belonged. I will forever hold SNC in my heart as my second home away from home, I felt like I was with my family. If I had the choice, I will not go to a different place to study, I cannot imagine going anywhere else; it is the best decision I have ever made. If I had to choose a college again, I would certainly choose SNC again. This experience is special for me because of all the friends that I made from all around the world, and the wisdom of my professors that had made differences in my life. The time I spent here is the best time of my life. I hope my children will attend SNC like I did. I will be forever a Green Knight.

 

 

“If you never have a dream, you’ll never have a dream come true”

            Dream may be considered as an initial part of real success, as saying “if you never have a dream, you’ll never have a dream come true”. My past semester at St. Norbert college gives me this experience by leading my dream to come true in overcoming fear of writing and reaching research paper.

Reminding research paper has ever made me fear in the past. Every time I received my graded essay, I was a little ashamed and blamed myself when I saw lots of red ink corrections in it. English writing is different from the way I write in my mother language. Reaching research paper seemed to be far from my ability at that time. This took me a long time until the beginning of the semester.

            My dream was inspired by one of the sisters in the convent where I am living. I would study at a porch of the convent where one of the sisters who usually passed through. She asked me about my study. I always complaint about my weak writing skill. She replied repeatedly softly, “It’s coming soon”. Her words made me wake up. I realized that “Why don’t I deal the problem instead of constantly complaining?” Therefore, I have had a plan for my own writing skill. My learning did not stop with the role to complete my homework, it went further with the active motivation of my desire.

            During the semester, I was on the way to my dream due to step-by-step instructions. I was gradually learning and discovering what a research paper is with many steps in the progress of building a research paper such as paraphrase, citation, cohesion and process to write each parts of a paper. Moreover, I knew how to research a paper and focus on reading as well as collect necessary information. In addition, the teachers’ instruction, encouragement and evaluation aided me to have motivation for my plan.

            Finally, I overcame my graphophobia and got familiar with research paper that is a basic requirement for my future study. In retrospect, although I have not reach an impeccable paper, I put my footprint on the way and attained partly my purpose. I believe that any dream only comes true when it is formed and named.

            When the semester coming to an end means my time for study at St. Norbert College also finish. The moment I studied at the college is the first impressive experience of my life in the United States. I really appreciate all enthusiasm from the teachers who gave me assistance in both academic knowledge and background of the country’s culture. They all helped some of my dream on the way to come true.

Personal Narrative Essay

            Back in 2011, I graduated from elementary school, and as a naïve 11-year old, I had big aspirations for myself. Such aspirations were being a part-time engineer and being a filthy-rich business man who somehow managed to tour as a musician and be world-famous. Well, none of this has happened yet, but one of the things that was present in my thoughts was that I wanted to leave the comfort of my own country.

            This was something very easy for me as a child to say. I did not care about the money involved in traveling abroad, the studying opportunities, the possibility of culture shock, home-sickness, or any other factor. I just knew that I wanted to do something different than the rest of my family, and moving to another country seemed like way to do it.

            After my summer vacations in 2011, my parents told me that there was an international school in town that provided study-abroad opportunities. After hours of begging, my parents finally agreed to let me go to that school. For me, this was my first step towards that nebulous, child fantasy that I dreamed of.

I did my best to keep excellent grades throughout my secondary education as a way to pay my parents back for the effort they made to keep me in my school (it was a very expensive tuition). I was part of the Honor Roll students since my very first year, and I had the highest GPA in my class year after year. However, as I started getting closer to graduation, my country started falling apart.

No one saw such a catastrophe coming. Venezuela, the richest of all South American countries in 2011, became one of the poorest countries in the world in a matter of years. As I was slowly maturing during my journey through high school, I realized my childhood dream started drifting away from me. Impotence became my biggest enemy, often causing anxiety or rage attacks every time I saw something bad on the news. And there was always something bad on the news.

Coping with these problems seemed impossible to me, and to prevent worrying my parents more than they already were, I repressed myself for a very long time. Often times I would fake a smile, pretending I did not know about my family’s worsening financial situation, and my parents’ growing desperation.

My secondary graduation arrived in the blink of an eye. Honestly, I was never ready for anything after that. My plans for college were non-existent and I had already given up on everything I wanted to achieve. I had already become a 17-year-old adult, and my choice was to either deal with adult problems, or with a silly childhood aspiration that was never going to happen. Or so I thought.

After the most random rush of events, I turned out to achieve my childhood dream. Not the rockstar-engineer-billionaire part of it, but I got the opportunity to come to the United States for my college studies. Whether it was luck, or fate, I would have never thought such an event to occur in my life.

My story relates to the popular saying of “if you never have a dream, you’ll never have a dream come true.” This saying made me wonder: “how can you achieve a goal without setting the goal first?” It is almost counterintuitive to think about. Dreaming and setting goals for oneself are important for a person to constantly progress towards said objective. Even if they are achieved by chance or by hard work, there are few experiences as rewarding as accomplishing something we set for ourselves.

My fall(2017) semester at St. Norbert College: Personal narrative essay

My fall(2017) semester at St. Norbert College: Personal narrative essay

“Hoping and praying are easier but do not produce as good results as hard work. ” (Andy Rooney)

Christmas is coming up soon, heavy snow falls every day, and we are almost at the end of this semester. I cannot believe how fast this semester is almost done. Every student has been busy to prepare for their finals since this week. “Fast, busy, and meaningful” encapsulates my sentiments towards this semester. What I have experienced in this semester helps me get a deeper thought and makes me better understand what Andy Rooney said: “Hoping and praying are easier but do not produce as good results as hard work.”

I will never forget the day when I got my math quiz back, and I only got 4.5 points out of 10. My economic score for second exam was worse than the first one, and my essay deadline for college writing class was close, but I had not started yet. Everything seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. There were more words than I wanted to say, and I don’t know how to describe how miserable I felt at that time. I still remembered that after class, I came back to my dorm and burst into tears because everything just came together, and I felt extremely stressed out and was deeply worried about my academic college life. I kept questioning myself why life was so hard for me, what reasons I could find to explain everything thing.

I recalled what had happened in the beginning of this semester. In the beginning of this semester, I had though classes were easy, so I didn’t pay much efforts to my study, and I would only get my homework done before class. I had used to think too much before study, and had procrastinated with my studying.

At that moment, I did think I needed to change because I hated to be a loser. Therefore, I have moved my study space from my dorm to library, where has less enjoyable things than studying. I also have made a study plan for my different courses, previewed the readings before class and reviewed lessons after class. I also found out my knowledge gaps and gradually I caught up with my classes and made a big progress on my math exam.

      I am so happy to catch up my classes in the rest of half semester and learned so many good studying habits from the lessons. There is no choice and alternative but hard work if you want to be successful. God only helps people who work hard so that Hoping and praying without engaging anything will not produce good result. Hard work is the key for everyone to make achievement.

MY FALL SEMESTER AT SAINT NORBERT COLLEGE

            When I was a student in my country, I never thought that one day I would study abroad; however, the experience that I never imagined has become a reality.  I remember beginning my first semester at St. Norbert College as though it were yesterday, but now I am finishing the last semester at this college. The time went so fast!  I was sitting and thinking – which semester did I like best: spring, summer, or fall? What part of the semester made the best impression and experience? Then, I got a clear answer: the fall semester is a priceless present and experience that I have received at Saint Norbert College.

         On August twenty-eighth, the fall semester started with my hopes. I hoped to improve my English skills and to be ready for college in the future after the fall semester. Being a student who studies English as a second language (ESL), I took some ESL classes in the fall semester. However, my teachers suggested that they wanted to give me a chance to experience the college environment. Therefore, I audited some college classes. Opportunities are always accompanied by challenges. At first, I found that the knowledge required by some subjects in the college classes was different than that of ESL classes. It was more difficult. I remember after two weeks of the semester, I met my teacher and asked her: “Please do not count my grades in the college classes because they are too low.” She said that I had been doing well but I knew that her words were for my encouragement because the fact was my scores were very low. I thought that I might drop that class. I struggled with the amount of knowledge and assignments required.

Then I looked back at my goals that I set at the beginning of this semester: “Where are my goals and my hope in all of this?”; “I need to overcome the difficulties and conquer the knowledge.” I thought hopefully. Yes, I did not want to stop! After resetting my goals, changing the way I study and asking my teacher for help, I was determined to be successful. My grades improved unbelievably.  At the end of that college class, I could not believe what I had done, I got A. That was a miracle! Now, I understand the meaning of the quote: “There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm” (Willa Cather). The challenges that I had to face at the beginning of the fall semester were worthwhile lessons for me. I realized when I am calm enough to look at my disadvantages, I can learn a lot from them; when I am disappointed in myself, I need to believe in myself even more. This experience also made me a strong believer that everything is possible if I do not renounce my hopes.

From this motivation, I have more confidence in myself to take advantage of these college classes. At that moment, I have no longer thought that “I can do it”; instead, my mind always reminds me “I will do it”. Writing class, for instance, I had never studied about how to paraphrase and summarize a paragraph in academic writing or compose a research paper before. When my teacher informed the class that a research paper would be the final exam, I doubted whether I could complete my research or not. However, I made up my mind “I will do it”. Then through the knowledge that I studied about paraphrasing and summarizing in academic writing, and creating a research paper step by step, I had finished my research paper in the college writing class on time. The skills from this class are very useful and necessary for my studying in the future. If the spring and summer semesters brought me basic knowledge about English; the fall semester has pushed me further than basic knowledge.

 The fall semester – a remarkable and challenging semester had finished in my favor because I know I have learned a lot from this semester. Although there was the time when I had to struggle with my lack of knowledge in the fall semester and wanted to relinquish, I have completed this semester and I am satisfied with what I have done. The fall semester has been a meaningful semester in my life so far. I have finally realized one thing for sure that the knowledge and experience that I have had from the fall semester will be precious assets for my studying in the future. 

My Fall Semester

As of December 15, my year of studying English will come to an end. I have experienced a lot of useful things through my classes here as an international student. The feelings of shyness or nervousness that I felt when I first came to St. Norbert College gradually gave away to confidence and happiness. I realized that St. Norbert College is an ideal academic environment for students, especially for me. Specifically, this fall semester is my best memory because it is marked with good friendships, experiences of being a college student and respect for all my teachers.

First of all, friendship has been a precious gift given to me during this semester. I can negate the fact that I felt awkward when I first met other students who came from different backgrounds, race, religions and languages. Over time, I learned how to relate with them in the class room and eventually they became my friends. My friends are friendly and each of them have special characteristics. During our time in class, my friends and I enjoyed pleasant time together. In addition, we shared our culture, feelings and personal knowledge that helped us to understand each other. As a result, my mind was opened to a lot of useful knowledge and understanding about customs and traditions of some countries all over the world. Moreover, one important thing that I can learn from my friends is to know how to be in harmony with others. By being honest and eliminating jealousy, we can build a strong connection and maintain good friendships. In fact, I have been lucky to meet and know these students who have become my friends.

The other thing that I really enjoyed this semester is the experience of being a college student. I was very surprised when I had an opportunity to attend three college classes because I was just an ESL student. Therefore, there were a lot of new things that I can learn from these classes. At first, it was difficult for me to understand what my teacher was teaching in class. The lessons were on a high academic level that was beyond my ability, therefore, I had to spend much more time studying and trying to get an understanding of what the teacher taught. Over the next few weeks, I felt better and more excited in being in these classes. My teacher gave me many necessary tools that helped me to become successful as a college student in writing, reading and survival academic skills. These college classes will help me to be more confident and to perform better when I officially enter college in near the future.

 Finally, my best memory during my time studying English at St. Norbert College will be my teachers.  I am deeply impressed by their kindness. My teachers always treated me in a friendly way. They have always been open – minded and patient, even though I made some mistakes. Especially, my teachers’ kindnesses created a wonderful classroom atmosphere in which all of us really felt comfortable and were so excited whenever we came to class. The relationship between teachers and students were close and lovely. Therefore, I could meet and talk with them easily inside or outside the classroom. At the same time, my teachers were always willing to listen and help me whenever I needed it. It goes without saying that my teachers inspired me and placed inside me an image of what it is to be a teacher.

In conclusion, this semester benefited me not only with a great deal of knowledge, but also with gifts that were given to me through my friends and teachers. Willa Cather says that, “There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.” For me, I attained a great deal of knowledge in calm because I was supported by my teachers’ encouragement and the help of my friends. But I also learned a lot in storm because of the difficult times I sometimes had in accomplishing my assignments. All in all, I truly believe that this semester has been a wonderful learning opportunity in my first year in the USA.

My Dream Coming True

“If you never have a dream, you’ll never have a dream come true.” (popular saying) Since I was little I have always dreamed of playing hockey at the best level I could and become the best person I can be. I have always wanted to skate, it was something that I was crying for. When I was three years old, my mom and my dad took me to hockey games and my brother and my twin sister were playing too. So I decided to try and to see what it is like. I fell in love with it the first day I put my foot on the ice. I felt so free and felt like I could express myself without anyone judging or talking. That day, hockey became my dream. It became something that I wanted to play everyday and that I wanted to do something with it career wise, and not just play. Hockey really became a part of me, it is who I am. And it is helping me in, taking my anger and my sadness out.

My first hockey team was Les Ours De Villard De Lans in my home town, this mean a lot to me. I also play for the French National Team, which is really fun, but hard. My dream became true when I played for the French team for the first time at the World championship. After that, my dream began to built up, my twin sister and I got called from a high school in Vermont to play for them with a full scholarship. As a result, my dream got bigger, I wanted to play college hockey and this was something I worked everyday and gave my best for it.  After three years in high school, I received a call from St.Norbert College, they had told me, they wanted me to come play for them. I was so happy, I could not believe that my dream was about to become true. I called my parents and everyone I knew and they told me this was awesome and that I should jump in. They also told me that my dream was almost realized. I thought a lot about it. Then I took the risk and went for it, because it was my dream to play college hockey since I was three years old. I thought it would never become true because it was a really big dream that I gave myself, and only very few people are able to accomplish this.  

Now I am here. It’s been around 4 month that I have been at St.Norbert College and I am really glad I took the chance. First because I am happy here and I get to study what I want. And because I am in the Women’s hockey team and it was my dream, it was all I could ask for. I have never been happier before coming here and playing for the SNC women’s hockey team, because I feel like I am where I am supposed to be and with the people I am supposed to be with. They became my family and I am growing as a person because of them and for them. Family and friends have alway told me to set myself a dream and to work hard for it because, one day no matter what, it will become true and it will pay back for all the blood, sweat, and tears given. I did not believe it at first, but now I believe that everyone should have a dream even a little one. Because one day it will come true. One day my coach told me that “ Some people want it to happen and some people make it happen”. And I made it happen and my dream became true, and this is who I am today.