For this week’s Passion Blog, I will be blogging about Kyla Chipman. Kyla is from Hong Kong, Hong Kong, S.A.R (Special Administrative Region). Her family consists of her mother, her father, and her older brother. Kyla speaks fluent English and is planning on double majoring in Marketing and Chinese.
Kyla is different from the two other students I have talked to so far; she’s a girl, a student athlete, and did Summer Session this summer.
Her college application process was similar to domestic students; she took the SAT’s and sent a transcript, she did not take the TOEFL. Kyla applied to all international schools; 4 in Australia, 5 in the United Kingdom, and 4 in the USA!
Kyla chose Penn State primarily because she was recruited by the Women’s Rugby Team and Penn State is a top school for rugby. Kyla has dreams of playing on the U.S.A team in the Olympics.
This summer, Kyla moved to America to live on her own. Transitioning to American college life was “really difficult,” said Kyla. “It was a lot to get used to for many reasons, for example I’m used to living in a big city and all the options that come with it,” said Kyla. Another issue was adjusting to American culture itself as opposed to the English culture found in Hong Kong. “It was surprisingly challenging, the two are more different than you would expect. I notice all these little things! Like the sports are different, the holidays are different, the alcohol culture of the US with it’s binge-drinking, and Monday night football,” she said.
Even though it took some time, Kyla adjusted to life in Penn State and currently loves it. “I actually like how Penn State is in a college-town, not a city. I love the school spirit, sports, THON, and the many service opportunities” she said. She also credits Penn State for “catering well to the needs of international students”
Kyla does have one lingering complaint: “I really hate the public transportation system or lack thereof,” she said. The transportation system here is so different than what she was used to in Hong Kong. Kyla also hates the distance between her and her family. Luckily, her parents visit relatively often. Her mother has visited several times since the summer
Kyla is looking forward to this school year. “My goals are to maintain a 3.5 gpa and to win two national championships in rugby,” she said. Despite the transportation issues, Kyla’s very content that she attends Penn State.
Here is a picture of Hong Kong:
Awesome reading about another student athlete at Penn State, especially cool that she’s an international student. This is one of my favorite passion blogs because even though the format is the same each week, it is so different because the people you interview come from all over and that is just really cool to see.
This is a really cool topic for a blog! The girl who lives next door to me also plays rugby, which is interesting but it’s not a very common sport. One of my good friends is an international student also, except that she’s an American studying in Shanghai. I’m looking forward to reading more of this blog.
I found it really interesting that she came here to play rugby, for we don’t really think of international students coming here as student athletes. Also I think it’s interesting how she complains about the public transportation system here because it’s something we all agree with. I have to take two bus rides and a train just to get home!
Good job mixing it up this week with a girl. Once again i know Kyla personally so its interesting to read about what her thoughts are. I do agree with her on the comment of the transpiration. We all hate how packed the cata buses could be. Keep it going!