Both students and U.S. university are responsible for the students ' well-being In the past one or two decades, the amount of students who go abroad for further learning, especially in America has increased rapidly. International students have ideal expectations about their adjustment to college; however, not everyone can easily and smoothly adjust to the new life in the U.S., and they seem to experience a more tough transition period than their initial thought. It is essential to attach importance to helping students adapt to the university life in U.S., because it determines the quality of the abroad life. University can provide proper classes or platforms to help students accustom to American culture. Besides, students themselves can focus on individual problems and ask for targeted help rather than some general help offered by the university. There are also some psychological problems which can only be coped by the student himself/herself, instead of other external help. As far as I am concerned, both the university and the students should be responsible for students adaptation to the university; to some extent, the students themselves may play a more important role in dealing with this problem. The U.S. university accepts international students from all over the world, and it has the responsibility to help international students adapt to the new environment. The university can offer some general help, such as several platforms or classes, for students to know more about local culture as well as get acquainted with new friends from diverse backgrounds. For instance, the University of Southern California provides a course called "American Culture" the goal of which is to teach students about American culture, the things that they probably wouldn 't pick up on just by watching TV. (Guidi 2) In this way, students gain more experiences by taking field trips or tasting characteristic food with local people, and all these experiences help them adapt to the new life. The university is the most suitable organization to offer such kind of help for students, because students live in the campus, which means acceptance of help provided by the university is the most accessible and easiest way. Therefore, the university is responsible for the students ' well-being by giving them a place or a channel to communicate with more people and access more local culture.. However, just a platform is far from enough for students to adapt well to the abroad life, because different people have different problems. The help offered by the university may not cohere with students ' needs, but students themselves can focus on their own problems and ask for targeted help. One student from Germany has been in the US for nearly a year. He complains excessively about his American classmates. "I think American students are boring. I like to debate - world affairs, war or other politics. But, when I start to discuss such topics with an American, the conversation always ends quickly. " says the German. (Gebhard 190) This German student may not benefit from some classes like "American Culture" mentioned before, as he will also feel boring when he takes the class full of the topics he does not like. The student needs to change his mind and avoids his attitude of exclusion towards the topics that American like to talk about. He needs to find some friends who not only are interested in debate but also can patiently tell him some American culture and custom by himself, which can help him find out some entertaining parts in American conversation. Since it is difficult for the university to give individual attention to every students because of the large quantity of pupils, students are responsible for meeting their own demand and finding targeted help to their problems. Moreover, external help may be useless in dealing with some psychological problems. International students need to overcome their difficulties in using language, which means they can 't be shy and silent all the time, and they must be bold in speaking with others even their oral English is poor. From a report related to international students ' adjustment problems, it says most of the international students who suffer in the abroad life have trouble understanding professors ' expectations but never come to the professor 's office for helping ,and they also have trouble in participating in whole class seminar discussions. (Gebhard 184) The main problem is that they are uncomfortable with speaking in class, or they are afraid of being laughed at because of thick accent. It is clear that silence is not a good choice when students face with these kind of problems, but nobody can force them to speak out except themselves. This kind of psychological problems arise from the inner fear of students. The definitive factor of solving this problem is the student is firm and brave enough to persuade himself/herself to speak out. Thus, students are more responsible for their well-being and adjustment for they are the one who can solve psychological problems of themselves. Both the universities and students are responsible for students ' adjustment. The universities can offer general help like opening a class, and students can find targeted help for their problems as well as deal with psychological problems which others can hardly solve. The effort that traverses two fields will help students pull through the transition period.
Work Cited
Gebhard, Jerry G. “International Students’ Adjustment Problems and Behaviors.” Journal of International Students 2.2 (Fall 2012): 184-193. Print.
“Chinese Students Flock to the US --And Efforts to Help Them Adapt are Ramping Up” Shots. Writ. Ruxandra Guidi. Public Radio International, May 29, 2013. Radio.
Cited: Gebhard, Jerry G. “International Students’ Adjustment Problems and Behaviors.” Journal of International Students 2.2 (Fall 2012): 184-193. Print.
“Chinese Students Flock to the US --And Efforts to Help Them Adapt are Ramping Up” Shots. Writ. Ruxandra Guidi. Public Radio International, May 29, 2013. Radio.