My name is Yun Guo. I came from a foreign country called China four years ago. English is a language that sounds familiar to me. It was my secondary language that I'd been studied back in fourth grade elementary school way before I came to the United States. It is a shame but also a fact that I didn't understand a word when I first stepped into this strange place.
Everything in this country was totally different from what I've seen and experienced in the past fourteen years in my home town. When my middle school English teacher asked me if I like America or not, I knew instantly that my answer was a "No". Honestly, it was very tough for me to adopt a new environment with my timid personality. I was afraid to communicate with other people at school because I thought they always treat me differently which made me felt self-humiliated. Then gradually, I'd tried to hide myself from other people and became isolated at school. The way I turned myself into was the biggest setback of my learning progress. I finished the miserable half-year semester of my middle school and moved into Houston from Florida, where I got a fresh start. There are many Asians and newcomers in this place, which made me get some kinds of secure feeling. I found people whom don't speak real fluent English and it made all the embarrassments disappeared when I talk to them. That's when I make friends at school. All the sudden, I realized how awful my conservative preconception had concealed Americans’ passion and sweetness. Five years had passed, I couldn't tell if I've had five better high school years in the America than in China, but I definitely don't regret to make the decision to come here. There won't be no pleasure without pain. I believe what I'd learned from these are worthy and must be valuable for my life. I appreciate these precious experiences I'd been through, and hoping for the best of my future.
I remember my mother used to urge me to write diary during elementary. My first contact with writing was documented in this neat diary book of my childhood. It contains simple sentences, constructed by subjects, verbs and objects, indicated what I did on particular days. Since then, writing was just a method to record. As I read and learned at school, grammars, adjectives and other kinds of basic writing skills had slowly became familiar to me. In the same moment, I was amazed by how the authors express their feelings and thoughts with elegant words in an orderly manner. And mulishly, I forced myself to write in this way as well. Eventually, writing had turned out to be a scary topic. There were many writing assignments associated with poetries, compositions and book reviews back in my Chinese middle school. It always took me hours to finish an essay regardless of the topics. I felt lost and frustrated of putting the pieces of my thoughts into the proper words, and this problem remains even now. Coming to America gave me a second chance to learn about writing along with English. I've got in touch with new writing techniques related to sonnets, research papers, persuasive writings and even business letters. Above all, effective writing skills are essential for college and career success. I believe a good writer itself represents high education and abundant knowledge that benefit on all professional fields. I also found that writing is a pleasant method to help me memorize vocabularies, train my conceptual thinking, communicate thoughts and to analyze or understand a question better.
This is my freshmen year in UH, which is another new environment for me to adjust, and more importantly, another priceless lesson of my life. This Composition I online course is a brand new study style for me, which probably require closer attention and greater self-discipline. As a foreigner, I confess that I don't have perfect confident with English, but as a student, I could guarantee my determination of learning. Being a responsible and progressive person who will learn from references and explanations, I'm hoping Ms. Johnson would give me more comments and frequently point out problems in order to guide me into the right path. I'm also surprise to know that blog is used for the course. I feel comfortable with blogs where I frequently visit, since they're the most convenient and popular place to commute. Therefore, I’m eager to start to learn in this excited course, but certainly, I can't wish my shortcomings of writing will immediately develop into professional skills. Instead, I am hoping that this course could help me improve my English and teach me what is crucial for my college career in turn to shape my future. I’m looking forward to have a great time in this amazing freshman year.
