From EFFENDY GRECILLE CHALISTA, an Indonesian student from BFSU.
I spent two years studying at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), which was a whole new experience that I would not get in any other place. I have learned many lessons, either from classes I attended or from life events I experienced. As a sophomore, living outside my home country was a big step with extra value. My shortcomings have been overcome over time and I got a better version of myself throughout the journey in China.
Even though I am currently taking all the courses online, I extremely appreciate all teachers’ eagerness to impart knowledge to all students without missing anything. From the experiences I got, choosing to study in China has a very positive impact on my behaviors and interpersonal skills. For anyone who wants to improve their competence and build connections, studying in China will be a right choice.
I still remember the first time I gave a presentation in the front of a big classroom with all people staring at me. I even started to be nervous as I was waiting for my turn to talk. I saw people before me talking fluently in English, which made me think that I was not good enough at speaking English. But when I began to talk after stepping up the stage, I realized that people cared more about my contents than my language.
My face was not as red as before. My confidence soared and I really enjoyed the process of sharing my ideas with the audience. There are numerous presentations that I have done in the past two years. I got up the courage to snatch every chance for practice in order to speak more naturally as if talking to my friends.
The language differences that I encountered did not prevent me from learning. I have always been fascinated by learning Chinese. Although I could not speak Mandarin fluently before going to China, after two years of study in the Chinese language class, I became more proficient in using this language. BFSU not only provided classes for English learning but also encouraged us to improve our Chinese, which is one of the crucial abilities for an International Business student in China.
BFSU has a goal to build a platform for students from all around the world to gain knowledge, which meets my vision of studying in a different environment and building more connections with the broad world. Our lecturers always encourage students to work hard during the classes.
I was driven to attend and participate in every class due to a supportive learning process, such as group projects, Q&A sessions, hearing speakers invited by the teacher, and many more. One of the regular programs that the school offered to trigger our development is company-visit around China. All lectures have given me more business inspirations of the future and greatly improved my way of thinking.
During my first semester, I got a chance to join the art and design department of the International Student Union. I learned that connection is important in developing critical thinking. It is my pleasure to have an opportunity to be a member of the IBS Union’s family. Furthermore, I felt lucky that in IBS Union, I met new friends of different ages from different countries and worked with them.
We had the same passion to support each other from the works we went through together. A big project can always have a lot of fun when my coworkers are my friends. I think the experience in the organization has helped me to become a better person with the suggestions that have been obtained and discussions that have been carried out. Not only did I learn teamwork skills, but my creativity was also sharpened through the projects and experiences I had.
The timid part of me has changed as I met a lot of people from different races and their candor encouraged me to contribute more to the university. Stepping out of my comfort zone has proven to me that I could be the best version of myself. Moreover, I believe that positive energy brought from a person could impact others who want to improve themselves. During my stay at BFSU, I was surrounded by supportive people who had experienced a lot in their life.
The commonality among them was that they were willing to share and to help each other so that all could achieve self-improvement.
Living outside the country enabled me to build relationships with people around the world. Moreover, I joined other Indonesian student organizations outside the campus. The three organizations that I joined certainly have different roles. It made me better at managing my time without forgetting my main task as a student, namely studying. Even though I was abroad, in my opinion, relations with friends from the same country was as important as building connections with foreign friends.
Each member in these organizations might have diverse visions and missions, but the difference did not affect our interactions and we created good relationship with each other. I felt the tolerance for each other when I was working and studying abroad. From my perspective, this is an important factor in building great work ethics in a company or even a country.
Being away from my family has encouraged me to keep studying and has pushed me to explore new and deep knowledge in an unfamiliar country. It was true that I often missed my home country and family. Nevertheless, in order to make my family proud, I have always tried my best to fulfill my duties as a student without forgetting my job in the organizations I joined. I am grateful for the chance to be away from home. It has given me more encouragement to learn new things, to know new friends from around the world, and to become more open-minded.
As a second-year student, all my journeys have brought me new experiences not only in learning new things but also in meeting new people from around the world. The interaction with new people has taught me to think more broadly and it is one of the key points as an International Business student.
Thanks to my journeys in China, I overcame some shortcomings and built up my own strength. From my experience, studying at BFSU has given me lessons that will accompany and benefit me throughout my university years. Definitely, I appreciate the opportunity to acquire knowledge from well-prepared classes, join different organizations, and meet people from diverse cultures.
