Keep An Open Mind

Before going to China and attending the CET Beijing program, I had no idea what to expect. I had attended two previous summer Chinese learning programs, but both were only for three weeks and both were in the United States. The CET Beijing program gave me the full immersion into Chinese culture and the experience of using language in the everyday interactions of daily life. In short, it was completely different than any previous experience I had. After going to China, I became so much more willing to try new things, whether that be food, activities or just the experience of living abroad, meeting people and speaking a different language. I came to believe during my time in Beijing that you need to be willing to try new things in order to have a fulfilling experience. If I had not tried even half of the things I did, I am certain that my summer would have been not only completely different, but not even as half as incredible as it was. What made my time in Beijing unique was the people I got to meet. New friends, teachers, program alumni and native Chinese speakers like my roommate, all made a huge positive impact on my experience. Making an effort to connect with these people on a daily basis, as well as trying to make as much an impact on their lives as they made on mine, was very important in building and maintaining those relationships and giving me more opportunities to connect in the future, as well as enriching my experience abroad.

CET learning was not similar to high school learning. I was one of the youngest people in the 2019 summer CET Beijing program, and, as a result, all of my friends were at least a year older than me, already had a year or more of university experience under their belt, and were overall more adjusted in the art of adulthood, while I had just graduated high school. However, this turned out to be a good thing, especially in planning weekend activities, trips and dealing with daily navigation struggles. I was able to learn so much from these older people and gained so much more self confidence, ability and maturity in the process. I would tell future participants that going in with an open mind is the most beneficial way of getting everything out of the CET program that they can.