STUDY IN USA?
JUST STARTS FROM A DREAM
Would you believe that everything starts out from a dream just as Marwah D. Ibrahim said? And “Imagination is more important than knowledge” (Albert Einsten). I believe these two philosophies and they have really impacted my life.
I started as free lance staff in the Center for Language Training and Overseas Study Preparation, in Gorontalo State University in 2004. I imagined “how can I go overseas?” Hence, I tried to realize this dream by studying and working so hard. My job was really helpful and s upported me to find new things and up to date news in my everyday life. International scholarship information became my main concern. It’s not about money but for sure, it’s about experience and improving my knowledge and skills especially my communication skills to help me interact with people from various professions.
I greatly beneficiated from searching scholarship information and providing that information for the people who needed it. I had several chances to go abroad such as joining a youth exchange program, a youth camp or even studying for one year in college. Last April, I got a scholarship from Fulbright through American Indonesian Education Foundation (AMINEF) in the Community College Summit Initiative Programs. I was very happy to get this scholarship, because this scholarship gave me a chance to study business management and administration at Hillsborough Community College, Tampa, Florida, United States of America.
It was on August 5th 2007, that I departed from Soekarno Hatta International Airport to KLIA and continued my journey to Heathrow, London. From London, I finally arrived at the John F. Kennedy International Airport. 25 hours in a plane was the longest journey that I have ever had in my life. It was the greatest thing in my life. Truly, it was exhausting but exciting. From New York, the committee picked me up and dropped me to Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. There, I met with lots of international students from different countries, they are from Egypt, South Africa, Turkey, Brazil, Russia, and Pakistan. We had orientation for two weeks and it was fun. I had a blazing time with all my friends from those countries. They are all the greatest people that I have ever met in my life.
The United States, the land of my dreams, has provided me with a good life. It gave me virtually everything I wanted. I could say that my life has changed since I came here. Now, I can feel a new atmosphere and find new things which are totally different from before. Starting with the pilgrims until today, I can certainly say America is the most prosperous land in the history of the world. It is affluent socially, economy, and politically. Astoundingly, flowers from different color can make one united garden.
It’s not only from the bird’s mouth and from some text books mention that we hear that in the USA we could find freedom, but also it’s what I feel and know after I stayed here for 2 months. It is just like they said. Education in America is an access to self-confidence, technology, and a career. Here, in Hillsborough Community Colleges, they provide many resources for students to study, including a tutorial center, library, cyber cafe, computer lab with the free internet connection, and study club. We have at least one computer in each classroom, lessons are taught through different sources, and we have a security system that makes us safe. These resources are a straightforward example of how technology flourishes in education.
I knew that until I got here it would be difficult to say I truly knew what I was getting myself into with Business Management. I think I’m starting to understand. Week one exposed me to financial accounting, economics, principle of marketing and international business. This was nothing I haven’t seen and studied before, but the demanding nature of each course really makes my work hard. Besides that, obviously I have learned the language and I think I’m getting better day by day, but perhaps more important is how much I learned about cultures, the people, American family, and even myself. I learned how to better stand up for myself and my beliefs, and to express myself in another language. What could make a person more confident than that?
Finally through this writing, I would like to share with my fellow students and friends how important it is, to study abroad. Let’s start from now, you have to focus on the future. Let’s face it “the world is getting smaller” First-hand knowledge of another culture and foreign language ability will help to put us in demand in today’s competitive job market. Most importantly, the experience of studying abroad will give us the opportunity to learn more about many things, for instance cultures, leadership skills, technology and the world in which we live. “You can achieve what do you want, by dreaming it first and try to realize it” (Tryanti Abdul Rahman, HCC- Florida, USA September 22nd, 2007)