My process to come to college was definitely, clearly not an easy journey. Starting as a normal Korean student who wanted to go to Korean college for a whole life, now I turn out to be an international students in the States. Though I am so comfortable and satisfied with my college life now, all of my close people were astonished at the moment that I announced that I am leaving my hometown to go to college. This is somewhat an obvious result regarding my past academic path. I went to elementary school, middle school, high school all in Korea.
The only hint, if any, that I might have eventually come abroad was that I went to a foreign language high school. Even so, I barely had any chance to talk to people speaking English as their first languages, and all English I could study was some grammar needed for school midterms and college entrance exam. Furthermore, the curriculums for those who plan to go abroad and those who do not totally differed. I was in classes of domestic students and never doubted the fact that I would go to a Korean college, a good one to be honest. Though I could not manage maintaining a high GPA score, I was somewhat confident in the actual college entrance exam because I usually got decent scores on the mock tests. However, whether it was because of my subconscious arrogance or getting extremely nervous, I totally failed my first exam. I got results that I would never imagine getting on any of my mock tests. I took a gap year to study once more for the exam, but the result was hardly better than the first one.
November 2013 was one of the dullest, dreariest times of my life for sure. Nearly for a week, I could not do anything. I could not sleep, I could not eat and basically I did nothing. Only considering myself, I wanted to try once more, taking a second gap year. However, I had to consider so many other things including my parents, therefore decided to look for another path. It was studying abroad. Though it was never a possible option that I would ever think of, it literally was the ONLY option that I could think about. However, it was never easy for me to get into a real process. I hardly even knew about what SAT was and was not even fluent in English since I have never been in the States for any reason. Still, I had to do something. I was desperate than ever in rest of my life, so I just started studying for SAT. I did not meet anyone, just stayed in my room memorizing vocabularies and trying out mock tests.
Fortunately, actually miraculously, I ended up getting decent result in December after studying for two to three weeks. Then came chances to apply for foreign colleges and actually studying there. Now I am here in Emory, and I am enjoying my life much more than I have expected. Based on my experience in both areas and opinions of my friends, I am going to compare and specify each process and college life afterwards.
The only hint, if any, that I might have eventually come abroad was that I went to a foreign language high school. Even so, I barely had any chance to talk to people speaking English as their first languages, and all English I could study was some grammar needed for school midterms and college entrance exam. Furthermore, the curriculums for those who plan to go abroad and those who do not totally differed. I was in classes of domestic students and never doubted the fact that I would go to a Korean college, a good one to be honest. Though I could not manage maintaining a high GPA score, I was somewhat confident in the actual college entrance exam because I usually got decent scores on the mock tests. However, whether it was because of my subconscious arrogance or getting extremely nervous, I totally failed my first exam. I got results that I would never imagine getting on any of my mock tests. I took a gap year to study once more for the exam, but the result was hardly better than the first one.
November 2013 was one of the dullest, dreariest times of my life for sure. Nearly for a week, I could not do anything. I could not sleep, I could not eat and basically I did nothing. Only considering myself, I wanted to try once more, taking a second gap year. However, I had to consider so many other things including my parents, therefore decided to look for another path. It was studying abroad. Though it was never a possible option that I would ever think of, it literally was the ONLY option that I could think about. However, it was never easy for me to get into a real process. I hardly even knew about what SAT was and was not even fluent in English since I have never been in the States for any reason. Still, I had to do something. I was desperate than ever in rest of my life, so I just started studying for SAT. I did not meet anyone, just stayed in my room memorizing vocabularies and trying out mock tests.
Fortunately, actually miraculously, I ended up getting decent result in December after studying for two to three weeks. Then came chances to apply for foreign colleges and actually studying there. Now I am here in Emory, and I am enjoying my life much more than I have expected. Based on my experience in both areas and opinions of my friends, I am going to compare and specify each process and college life afterwards.