For this week’s Passion Blog, I spoke with Jonghee Yi. Jonghee prefers to be called Sophia. She is from Soeul, South Korea and is double majoring in Advertising and Psychology. Unlike the other students I’ve spoken to, Sophia is a senior.
Sophia really wanted to attend an American university, “America is one of the top countries in the world. I had always liked the culture and diversity of America.” Coming to study at Penn State was an easy logical choice for her and she’s liked it very much. “Penn State is very big, but I like that. There so many good programs offered here. Pennsylvania is a good location, I think we’re close enough to cities,” said Sophia
Like the other students of spoken to Sophia had to take TOEFL. Sophia describes her English proficiency as “medium” and says that her ability to speak English was a major factor in transitioning to life at Penn State.
Adjusting to life at Penn State was hard for Sophia. “It was hard for me to make friends. I know English, I am just not good at the slang. The English that I learned in school was mostly written, I did not have that much experience in speaking.” She wanted to make international friends when she came to Penn State; but she initially found herself hanging out with fellow Koreans; which was a blessing and a curse. While she appreciates finding people who speak her language, she does not want to feel dependent on her Korean friends.
Sophia also says that getting used to the culture of American teens and their ways of thinking is a transition all by itself. “I consider myself shy and conservative. At parties, I would feel uncomfortable and embarrassed.” Nonetheless, Sophia has been able to find good friends and people who share common interests with her.
Even though she’s enjoying Penn State, she does miss Seoul. “I miss my family and the food in South Korea!” said Sophia. State College is also too small for her taste, having grown up living in such a large and thriving city. She is understandably very excited for this year, her last year at college! “I’m gonna be learning even more English and broadening my horizons. I’m looking forward to the next chapter of my life.” She is currently busy making plans for life after college and wants to work at an advertising agency.
I haven’t really met a lot of international students, so it’s interesting to read about other people from other cultures’ perspective. I can’t imagine the initial transition to college as an international student- you have to become accustomed to the culture, language, country, everything. It’s a huge stress. I know that I feel better knowing that I live a couple hours away; I can’t imagine how scary it would be to be so far from home. It’s great to see the perspective of someone who grew up in a very different world than I did and compare our experiences.
Again, I love these posts! I find it so interesting to see what the international students, so far from home, have to say about their experiences here at Penn State. I like how this week the student is a senior, which gives a little bit of a different perspective.
I liked how you switched it up by blogging about a senior. They definitely have more knowledge of the university. I feel that blogging about a senior was a good choice because you can see the effect that moving had on the student in the long term and it looks pretty good. Good job!