- Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project.
For my STEP project this past summer, I participated in a study abroad program in Suzhou, China for seven weeks. Through this program, I was able to complete two courses for OSU credit and navigate a new city and culture with my classmates.
- What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project?
My time in Suzhou was a time of tremendous growth. I walked into the program expecting something absolutely phenomenal. I wanted what I had always heard from other students with study abroad experiences: to see scenes of grandeur, to be filled with awe, and to have my life completely changed. Quite frankly, my experience encompassed that and much more.
Finding myself in a country in which every little interaction I had with the world outside of my own mind required a translation into a new language was challenging and incredibly humbling. In America, I was a 20 year old college student with the ability to express and present myself as such, but in China (for at least the first few weeks), I was a 20 year old college student with the ability of a babbling 5 year old to express my thoughts and emotions. Naturally, I struggled with many insecurities ranging from feeling like my Chinese simply wasn’t good enough to feeling like I didn’t have the skills necessary to be studying as equals with my classmates. I soon realized, however, that many of us shared these fears. In addition, since we had all come to China in an effort to improve our Chinese skills, I realized that we shouldn’t be afraid of our skills not being good enough, but instead look forward to our skills improving through our experiences. That said, every day was filled with interactions I had that I considered successes as well as failures, and each one made me reevaluate my reason for participating in this program. Through it all, however, I realized my true passion for the Chinese language and culture, and despite my language handicap, I learned very quickly to be bold and more confident in my interactions with native speakers, which translated to being more bold and confident in general in my daily life. Being able to improve my Chinese skills and visibly notice my increasing comfortability in my surroundings every day is a dream I got to live out this summer, and it was an overall extremely grounding and fulfilling experience.
- What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during your STEP Signature Project led to the change/transformation that you discussed in #2, and how did those affect you?
This past summer, there were a total of 14 students who travelled to Suzhou, among which 8 were undergraduate students, and 6 were graduate students. Though we were split into two different levels of classes for the program, we all swam through the humidity and sweated through the heat of Suzhou together, and bonded through our experiences. I am so thankful to have met my classmates and to have experienced this summer with them. To not only share a passion for Chinese with a group of people, but to be able to struggle together in figuring out everything – from ordering food at a restaurant to complicated class projects – was an incredible blessing. The friends I made through this program kept me grounded when classes or life became overwhelming, and I consider them to be people I hope to keep in my life. Their friendships gave me the stable ground I needed in a country where everything I did required extra thinking and effort, and I wholeheartedly believe that we all helped each other grow.
In addition to my OSU classmates, I also had a total of three language partners in Suzhou. Each OSU student was assigned one (or in my case, two) language partner(s) for one month at a time who would spend time with them outside of class to build a friendship and better understand possible cultural similarities and differences. My language partners helped me really immerse into the Chinese culture. Since they were native Chinese college students, I spoke to them almost exclusively in Chinese, which proved to be incredibly challenging and yet very effective in improving my language skills. They corrected my speech when I misspoke, taught me slang and popular Chinese sayings, and in return, I taught them American sayings and introduced them to different aspects of American pop culture. Together, we watched both American and Chinese movies, explored different parts of Suzhou, and learned how to overcome the language barrier to develop a friendship.
Since our study abroad program was seven weeks long, my classmates and I were given a little bit of flexibility to visit other cities in China. The first weekend of the program, for example, a group of my classmates and I were able to visit Shanghai and see firsthand how a giant, international city like Shanghai compared to our humble city of Suzhou. Our program itself, however, also had numerous excursions and activities planned for all of us. We were able to visit local places in Suzhou like the ancient water town of Luzhi as well as other nearby cities, such as the well-known Hangzhou. Despite all of the sights we were able to see, my favorite was simply the city of Suzhou; the Old Suzhou, to be specific. Living in Gusu Hotel and walking the streets and stone bridges of Old Suzhou every day was incredibly unique. The white walls and black roof tiles as well as the local restaurants and markets I quickly became acquainted with are still vividly clear. In Suzhou, I was able to witness a growing city with an impressive modern cityscape, but also a city that preserved its beautiful history for all to see. Call me biased, but Suzhou is special; I feel very grateful to have been able to spend a summer studying in such a culturally affluent city.
- Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life?
Before studying in China, I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do in the next few years and after graduation. I wanted to focus on finishing my undergraduate studies on time, then look for a government related job to start my career in the public sector. This experience, however, took all inklings of a plan that I had and completely turned it on its head. Just a month after my trip, I am now finding myself not only applying to graduate school a year early, but also to a program I previously didn’t know existed to pursue further studies in Chinese.
**Note: I wanted to include some pictures with this STEP reflection, but for some reason, the website isn’t letting me upload any of my pictures or files onto the media library.**
*Update: I was finally able to upload these pictures!*
^Taken at Snake City Gate in Suzhou; one of my favorite places in the city!
^Taken at Shantangjie, one of the traditional tourist shopping streets in Suzhou!
<Taken during our day trip to Hangzhou, on Four Lake!