I came to the US to learn theater with full heart of excitement. As a person who loves musical, I had been looking forward to the theater industry for a long time. Theater is a safe place for me, where…
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Nostalgia on a Plate: When Home Tastes Like a Stereotype
I come from a village in Taiyuan, Shanxi. As the sun went down, there were always kids like me chasing each other through the neighborhood, giggling down the streets. The air would be filled with the shouts of street merchants,…
Lafayette College and my Hometown
The educational system of my hometown, Long Island, and the educational system of Easton Pennsylvania have many similarities and differences. Moving from Long Island to Pennsylvania I had to adjust to different teaching styles and academic expectations. Additionally, the…
Bridging Cultures: A Year of Friendship and Discovery
One year ago, I made a close friend with an international student from Italy. He came to our country for a year and sat right next to me on the first day of my senior year of high school in…
From the Unknown to the Known
Coming from Liberia, I expected differences in education and lifestyle, but I didn’t realize how deeply culture shock would hit me in everyday moments. From classroom experiences to simple conversations, I’ve had to navigate situations that made me feel…
The wooden dolphin: A gift from Saint Lucia
A memorable cultural exchange experience that I had with someone from a different country was with a local chef in Saint Lucia, one of the Caribbean islands. Saint Lucia has around 180,000 residents living on the island and is a…
Connecting with the Spanish
When I first met Jacobo, he was a shy and quiet kid who was unfamiliar with everything around him. Recently arrived from Spain, Jacobo was spending 5 weeks in the US and at my best friend’s house. The first night…
Different But The Same
Prior to arriving at college, my personal experiences with foreign cultures were very limited. That was until I moved into my first dorm. I was placed in a random triple in the South College Dormitory. One of my roommates, Jiajun,…
At Education’s Altar/У Алтаря Обучения
The first time I realised that professors were real people too was when Professor Evan Fisher of the Math department told me his wife loves playing piano just like I do. I was in office hours because I was behind…
From Individualism to Community in the U.S. (개인주의에서 공동체주의로)
Before I enrolled in a U.S. college, I pictured American culture as deeply individualistic—where everyone pursued personal goals above all else. I expected to see a campus filled with students rushing to excel on their own, rarely pausing to share…