How encouraging education helped me integrate into UConn
Background:
Before telling my story, I need to provide a little background. These events occurred before I officially started my undergraduate studies. At that time, I was studying a language program at the UCAELI institution （under the UCONN ）because my language ability was insufficient to support me in starting an undergraduate course. I postponed college for a year, but I don't regret it. The teachers and staff at UCAELI helped me get through a difficult time. I was scared and uneasy about the new environment when I first time arrived in the United States. It is their kindness that calmed me. During that period, my abilities and thinking have been greatly improved, and all of this is inseparable from the support of UCAELI. Next, I will tell you a few experiences during my studies at UCAELI to show how important UCAELI has been in my growth in all aspects and in allowing me to integrate into the University of Connecticut and consider myself a Husky.
Introduction
Culture of Encouragement
The culture of encouragement is my personal summary of the educational style of UCAELI teachers. The counterpart to the encouraging education is the high-pressure education culture in Asia, which is how I was educated before I coming to the University of Connecticut. I don't like high-pressure education from the bottom of my heart, which may be related to personal experience. But it is undeniable that, in a high-pressure education, I was not a “good student” in the traditional sense. I was lazy and rebellious and hated all the learning and teaching from my parents. In fact, I had just fought with my parents before leaving for America. In my personal understanding, the culture of high-pressure education often means criticism and blame. Even if you have tried your best and achieved your personal best results, parents or teachers in a high-pressure education culture will tell you, "You are not good enough, you are not enough, there are people better than you." "Hurry up and keep studying; others will surpass you." Teachers in a encouraging culture will tell you, "You are awesome, you did a good job, don't worry, if you make some improvements in some aspects, you will do better next time." The encouraging educational culture of UCAELI has very well alleviated my defensiveness about new environments and roles, as well as my aversion to learning. This is a straightforward multiple-choice question: A. An educational culture that instills anxiety in you every day and oppresses you to move forward. B. An academic culture that encourages you and praises you every day builds your confidence and guides you in self learning. I choose B.
After studying at UCAELI for a period of time, I no longer fear giving personal presentations. I can speak on the podium alone for half an hour or even longer if the teacher allows me. In fact, because my speech was so long, I even disrupted the schedules of several teachers. A class lasted three hours, and I probably took up one-third of the time. Of course, this kind of long presentation is incorrect, and I pay the piper in subsequent studies. However, this also shows the huge improvement that the UCAELI project has brought to me. I couldn't even speak a sentence fluently when I first arrived at the University of Connecticut. I developed strong confidence that I could pass the final test of UCAELI and complete my undergraduate degree. As I gradually improved myself, I gradually recognized this institution and this school because of the goodwill, support, and help from UCAELI and others from UCONN. UCONN made me feel that I was integrated into it, and I recognized my identity as a HUSKY.
Encourage the first experience of bowling with education
The activity in the video occurred on May 5, 2023. My classmates some teachers from UCAELID and I went to the bowling alley near Storrs to play bowling. This video records the first time I played bowling. The video was shot by my classmate Shawn using my mobile phone. This is a short video, only 13 seconds. But in these thirteen seconds, I could simply and directly hear the friendly encouragement from the teachers at UCAELI. They were clapping and cheering for me when the bowling I bowled hit the overs. Even though I didn't achieve strike and there were still two bowlers left on the field, they still praised me loudly and applauded me. This gave me a lot of confidence in my bowling skills.
At that time I thought I was a genius bowler. This can also be seen from my performance in the video. After they expressed their recognition and praise for my achievements. Especially Ms. Huong's phrase "How can you do that?" This greatly satisfied my vanity. I proudly turned around to face everyone and made a gesture of spreading my arms. This action means "Look, I did a good job, didn't I?"
The encouragement and praise from teachers and classmates made me quickly integrate into the group and concentrate on playing. I started cheering for other people’s good scores and feeling sad for other people’s mistakes, and we became like a unit. What I want to say is that UCAELI encourages me time and time again through similar activities or feedback from language courses. It gave me the confidence to continue learning.
During my learning process, the praise and encouragement from UCAELI teachers was a major motivation for me to improve myself. Their encouragement made me feel another kind of warmth in my heart far away from home. Their encouragement helped me quickly get rid of the fear and uneasiness caused by culture shock. It also made me fall in love with them, fall in love with UCAELI where they are, and also fall in love with UConn. I recognized the huge community of UConn through the encouragement, praise and help from everyone at UCAELI. I feel like I'm integrated into UConn and part of the UConn community, so I'm a Husky.