International Studies Network

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Tyler Way Shares His Experience in China

August11

Please read. The following is from International Studies major Tyler Way. Tyler was kind enough to share his thoughts on his time spent studying in China. This is what the International Studies program is all about!! Thank you for sharing, Tyler!

I just completed a semester in Chengdu, China, which is the provincial capital of Sichuan located in the southwest of China near Tibet and just south of the ancient city of Xi’an. I was studying at 西南民族大学 (Southwest University for Nationalities) from mid January to mid May. My time there included many trips to neighboring provinces and the capital city of Beijing.

If I were to say one thing that I got out of the whole experience of studying abroad I would say it was a sense of confidence in myself that I didn’t have before. Studying a language can be a difficult and daunting task, but with the right determination it is not impossible. I worked hard my first three semesters at BGSU and I am proud of myself for the amount of progress I made in that time, but nothing can compare to the progress I made once living in a city with little to no English speakers. This was the most fearful I have ever been, but with the help of the other people in my program and some new found Chinese friends I did not just get used to that fear I obliterated it. I began to feel at home where once I had felt scared. It took time, but I soon realized that The Chinese people were so happy to see someone trying to learn their language that they wouldn’t even care about mistakes, they would only ever tell you new ways to say things more colloquially. You would say something as simple as “nihao (hello)” and they would be overjoyed and rave about how amazing at Chinese we were. This journey of learning Mandarin gave me valuable language skills, but also it gave me the confidence to soar to new heights and to reach for things that one seemed impossible.

Studying abroad is the best decision I have made since arriving at BGSU. The friends I have made while abroad are, and will always be, some of my closest friends. I encourage anyone who can, to study abroad at some point in their time here at BGSU. Go somewhere outside your comfort zone because only by pushing the boundaries of what we think we can handle, can we ever truly grow. (Someone probably said that, but I have no idea).

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