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.