I can’t believe my study abroad program has come to an end and I have returned back home. This has been one of the most enlightening experiences of my life. I feel that I adjusted better than I expected to the Taiwanese lifestyle, especially a student lifestyle. I was most nervous about finding a community while abroad, but my program allowed me to not only find other Pitt students that I am excited to reconnect with next semester, but also students from other colleges in the US and other countries as well. My university, Tunghai University, hosted the 35 or so students from US colleges, as well as students from many other Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, and Indonesia. This allowed me to really spread my wings in terms of community and I am glad to have made so many connections with students from all over the globe.
Academically, I can say with confidence that my Chinese language skill has increased. We were told by the university that every class would be taught fully in English, so you can imagine my shock when I got to the first day of my Calligraphy class and my professor was only speaking in Chinese. I am really glad it ended up this way though, because this is the first Chinese course I have taken besides language-oriented ones. This helped me to apply the vocabulary and grammar that I have learned from textbooks to real life application. I am proud to say that out of the 30 American, Taiwanese, and Indonesian students in my class, my calligraphy project won first prize! Although I probably won’t use calligraphy in my career, it is still important to me because it shows that not only does practicing pay off (my calligraphy was REALLY shoddy at the beginning of the semester), but that my Chinese is at a proficiency where it can be used in real life applications and hopefully in a future career.
Speaking of that, my month abroad has fully inspired me to continue my studies in Taiwan! While I was there, I was so excited about returning that I began to research gap year programs and grad schools in Taiwan. I am now considering working in Taiwan for a year following my graduation from Pitt in order to develop my Chinese language skill and grad school application. I am excited to continue to research this as a possibility, as I actually cannot wait to return to Taiwan! I hope it is for an extended period of time, but I will jump at any opportunity to return.