My STEP signature project was a study abroad to China focused on cultural studies of the Yi people. We were paired up with students from the Southwest Minzu University in the city of Chengdu, where we spent the majority of the trip. We traveled all around the Sichuan province and spent the last two days exploring the city of Shanghai.
Before I went on this trip, I had never left the United States besides going to Canada. This was my first true trip abroad and my first time spending a month away from my family. I felt it was necessary for me to get out of my comfort zone and travel as far as possible to a place where I didn’t know the language in order to get the most out of my college experience here at Ohio State and develop better social skills, so that’s exactly what I did. I originally had pictured China as a communist country with a government that had its thumb on all the citizens to the point where no one could live a happy life but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Everyone was cheerful and friendly beyond belief, from the students that we were paired up with to the families up in the mountain town, everyone was kind and generous.
In order to survive on this trip, we had to become very outgoing individuals. We couldn’t be shy when it came to performing or speaking in front of crowds. I wasn’t much of a singer before this trip but since it is such a big part of their culture, I became an avid singer for a few weeks. We had to perform a song in front of hundreds of students at the university there, which was incredibly nerve wracking, and we messed up big time, but it was an unforgettable experience to be able to say we performed on stage in China. After that we went to the mountain town in Leibo, where we each went around to different high school classes to talk to the students there who had never met foreigners before. They would all perform for me then would make me give a solo performance, which was also very nerve wracking, but they would always tell me I did a good job even if I messed up. Before this trip I was a fairly shy person when speaking in front of crowds so going to the high school was an incredible experience for me because it forced me to sit in front of classes of fifty students or more and just talk to them and give them words of wisdom. I could feel myself becoming more comfortable after I spoke to a few classes and by the end I was just excited to go to new classes and meet the students. The trip to Leibo really helped me improve my public speaking skills and social skills as well as helped me diminish my anxiety of performing in front of large crowds.
From the moment we landed in the city of Chengdu, we were met with cheerful faces. Some of the students had on their traditional Yi clothing and came to help us with our bags. Again, at the opening ceremony we met the students in their traditional clothing and took a picture together, which is where I met my partner that I would be with for the month. When we were lining up for a picture a little guy with a giant voice and bountiful amounts of energy named Jia Ba came up to me and asked me how I was and if I was happy. After talking with him for a few seconds I already knew I would choose him as my partner and I knew there wouldn’t be a dull moment on the trip with him by my side. We instantly became brothers and will be for life. His English was poor, but his energy was through the roof at all times so that made up for it. Even if some of the others couldn’t understand what he was saying, I could always help him get the message across. We created a bond that will never be broken, and I cannot wait to go back and visit him again.
In addition to my partner, all the other students and professors on the trip were incredibly kind and caring. Our guide was a former student at the university named Hom, and his English was incredible even though he had never met a native English-speaking person before. I felt as if I had known him my whole life after just a few days of talking with him. He was always asking our opinion on daily activities and catering them to our desires and made sure that those with diet restrictions were well fed. We knew he was incredible assistant, but we didn’t know how well we had it until we went to Shanghai for the last few days without him or the other Yi students. We had another tour guide there who wasn’t a bad guide by any means but was nothing close to our dearest Hom. Out of all the people on the trip, the person that surprised me the most was the provost of the Yi college, Professor Aku. We were told beforehand that he was a well renowned poet and professor at the university and also a longtime friend of Professor Mark Bender who took us on the trip, but I had no idea what to expect of him. I figured he would be a reserved man who looked down upon us mere students from America, but I was very far off. He was so full of life and always smiling. He doesn’t speak English, but he did understand a few phrases. His singing voice was far better than I was expecting also. I am not well acquainted with the provost here as Ohio State, but I have a strong feeling that Professor Aku could beat him in a singing competition. He gave us a farewell speech at the end of the trip that Professor Bender translated for us and that really showed us how close the two of them are because they were both fighting back tears along with the rest of us when his speech came to a close. My assumptions of all the people there being stern and straight forward were turned upside down the more time I spent talking to each one of them. I never thought that saying goodbye to a group of people that I had only known for a month could be so hard, but we truly became a family.
I went into this trip with a pretty limited scope of what to expect from it or what I would get out of it. I just wanted to take a trip out of the country and maybe learn some new things, but this study abroad gave me so much more than that. I made huge strides in getting out of my comfort zone when it came to public speaking and socializing. I met some incredible people and made lifelong friends that I am still in contact with. I now have a whole new view on what China is like that I can share with my family and friends back here in the United States. I was transformed into a more confident young man and I cannot wait to see how the small lessons I learned on the trip manifest themselves throughout my life.
