MAkE YOUR MARK : “How Will and International Education Help Me Make a Difference in The World?”

“How Will and International Education Help Me Make a Difference in The World?”

            I came from an underserved community in Indonesia and I had a dream to study abroad. After the long journey, I got a scholarship from the Department of the U.S that gave me a chance to participate in the Community College Initiative Program. This program allows me to study abroad and do a cultural exchange for 10 months. I enrolled in Kirkwood Community College for the Agriculture Production Management Program-the best Ag program in the nation.

            I learned many things to sharpen my skills and abilities. The education system is totally different from my country. I have to deal with critical thinking and a fast pace.  Most assignments should be submitted online and really easy to access. The grading system is also open and personal where we can check it out directly on the college website and other classmates cannot access that. It is very convenient for someone who prefers privacy.  We can know our grade as soon as possible after the test or quiz have been taken.  Because of that, we know what was wrong and what we need to do next to be better. The tutor and instructor are available to help for free. It is even possible for a student to complaint to the instructor if something wrong is found. What a difficult thing to do in my country. I was surprised that my instructors helped me a lot when I had a problem to understand in the course. They really take care of their students. They provided many things. I remembered asking for internship place that possible for me to one of my instructors. The next day, he called me and recommended some places for internships. I was amazed that it was so quick. Compared with my country, most of the instructors in the university are difficult to contact. We needed to wait a long time to hear back. So, we were waiting with uncertainty. Sometimes I was the only one International student in the class. This condition challenged me to be more confident and to prove that I was also the compete for.  I also figured out that technology held a main role in agriculture industries. Large areas of land only needed one or two people to work. Most production process is done by machine. This is more productive and efficient. Furthermore, farmers have a good connection and access to market their products. Being a farmer in the U.S is a good career to work with.

             I was a member of the Agribusiness Club. That club helped the students to get information about agriculture companies to do internships or even to work with. This club helped me to develop my networking. I also participated in the cultural exchange. Meeting people from different countries teaches me to understand and respect the differences. Prejudice is not good. No culture is better than another. We are just different. Being an international student opens my eyes to see that we the people can stand together to make the world a better place to live.

            The next thing that impressed me is about giving back to the community. People feel free to do community service. No matter if you are a kid or old, they give time to be involved in. What a good value. Since I came to the U.S, I ‘ve done with more than 100 hours of unpaid volunteering. This activity has taught me about the importance to give a hand.

            As a representative from my country, I feel I need to spread these good vibes. Slowly starting from myself, then to my family, to my friends, co-workers and finally throughout my hometown. I will share this precious experience. I hope I can motivate young to get an education as high as possible. I have a plan to make an organization that I will call “Spread Good Vibes”. As its name implies, I want to spread positive values that I got when I was in the U.S to people around me. In this organization, I will make English fun to learn. Every Sunday morning, I will invite students to learn English together. In that time, every participant has to speak English for an hour. I will give a topic and students should give their opinions or comments about that. My focus is to have them became familiar with English and try to speak it. This will be useful for them in the future.

            Another program is to focus on education. I will teach young students about planting crops. I am going to tell them to respect the farmer. If there is no farmer it means, there is no food supply. I choose young generation to work with because the old generation is bold and difficult to change minds. Furthermore, the young generation is our future leaders.