Studying abroad has been a dream of mine since
I was a child. However, as an orphan who working at 16 years old, back then, I
felt that I was dreaming too high. But, I was wrong!
There is no dream too high to achieve. Moreover, dreaming is free, and as long
as you believe, your dream will come true.
“Man
Jadda Wajadda. He who gives his all will surely succeed.” Through this Arabian
phrase, I finally reach my dream to study in the U.S. After the long selection
process, on August 2, 2011, I went to Atlanta, Georgia as a Community College Initiative (CCI) student.
Atlanta, Georgia, a beautiful big city, is where
I started my wonderful experiences to meet some incredible friends from another
country. I met Leo, Gui, Vitor, and Lucas. My new great friends were from
Brazil and they gave me the Brazilian flag. Also, my new Indonesian friends,
Irni, Hanna, Erni, Anta, Razid, Mela, Hestin and I did a “Dangdut” singing and
dancing performance at a cultural event. I felt happy to meet new people with
different background and I felt proud to be an ambassador of my country,
Indonesia. Then, all the CCID students got a chance to take tours of the Coca-Cola
Company, CNN, and Stone Mountain.
After the three days in Atlanta, I headed for
my host college in Madison, Wisconsin. The beautiful city which is located
between Lake Monona and Lake Mendota is filled with lovely people, like Tammy
Manthe.
When I just landed at Dane County RegionalAirport, Tammy Manthe, my mentor mom, her husband and two children came to the airport
to welcome me. Can you imagine how happy I was to have a new, complete family?
At Madison Area Technical College, as a person
who spoke Indonesian all the time before coming to USA, studying in English was
my biggest challenge. But my instructors were and continue to be willing to
help me to understand the lectures and material. In addition, my American
classmates gave me detailed explanation when I asked them. Furthermore, the
Learning Center and Writing Center were the perfect place to get help correcting
my grammatical errors.
Besides
learning in classes, I also learned a great deal during my internship as a
staff writer on The Clarion, Madison College’s newspaper. Once I wrote a review
about the Bandung Restaurant, an Indonesian restaurant in Madison. My review
was published in the newspaper and on The Clarion’s website. The happiest time
for me was when the restaurant posted my article to their Facebook page. My
internship has given me practical skills for the workplace.
Another
great thing to do in the U.S. is community service. I served meals to homeless
people and their kids at the Goodman Community Center Family Night Dinner.
Moreover, I helped Goodman Community Center to collect turkeys to the needy so
they could celebrate Thanksgiving. Those great opportunities taught me to
contribute to the community where I live.
I created many unforgettable
moments while studying in the U.S. I feel so grateful for being a part of CCI
program. This program has given me and other participants a lot of experiences
that will benefit this generation and the world at large. Do you want to get
these “once in a life time” experience? The simple answer is this formula
“Dream + Efforts = Reality!”
