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An International Journey A master’s student shares her story about coming to the United States from China to study
Living, studying and working in one’s home country are no longer the only choices for many people now. I came to the USA to see how the world outside of China looks like after I had obtained my bachelor’s degree. There have been more and more Chinese parents sending their children to other countries so they can experience a different culture and see a different world. After seeing my friends and cousins leave China one by one to other countries, I decided to start my journey in the USA in 2011. The first destination of my journey was Cal Poly Pomona. I was not able to communicate with Americans without an interpreter at the beginning of this journey, so I applied for the English Language Program at Cal Poly Pomona. I learned English, American culture, and how to manage my life there. I met many friends at school. They came from Korea, Kuwait, Thailand and many other countries. We were learning English and American culture together. Everything I had experienced after I came here was very different from what I experienced in China. People greet each other in a different way; instructors teach students in a different way; students learn knowledge in a different way. In China, instructors will always be watching students to assure that they study what they were assigned. However, students have to be responsible for their own studies in the USA. A student rarely gets time to relax in China. However, studying is not the only thing I do as a student at Cal Poly Pomona. In my free time, I have been to Universal Studios, Hollywood and Santa Monica Beach on the weekends. I learned
SPRING 2013
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Huiqiong (Sharon) Zhou’s thesis investigated the long-term impacts of post 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on the Beijing tourism industry.
Collins | |
Tom Zasadzinski
By Huiqiong (Shar on) Zhou
to manage my time wisely, so I can get the assignments done on time, achieve high grades on every course I take, and hang out with friends to enjoy my social life. After six months in the language program, I had no problem communicating with people in English. I started to make plans for the next step of my journey and pursue my passion for hospitality. In China, I earned a bachelor’s degree in International Business, which served as an excellent educational foundation for the master’s program at The Collins College. In the fall of 2011, I was very lucky and honored to become a graduate student in the Master of Science in Hospitality Management program. This program has taught me to see the hospitality industry from a service provider’s perspective, and taught me to think as a service provider. Also, I learned that research should be done rigorously and practically. We have to respect others’ work, if we want our work to be respected. I am currently writing my last paper before graduating this June, and I hope I can make the last step wonderful. After graduation, a new destination will be waiting for me—a career I always dreamed about, a management position in a hotel. I cannot wait to start the real journey in the hospitality world. I hope the next destination will be another incredible one like the hospitality program at The Collins College.
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