我的留学感受
作者简介：
姓 名：王志会
性 别：男
中方大学：武汉理工大学
留学大学：George Mason University
专 业：经济学
留学时间：20xx年8月19至20xx年6月23日
我的名字叫王志会，英文名是Joshua， 大一时一个加拿大朋友给我取的，后来到了美国才知道这个名字的宗教色彩很浓。 我出生于19xx年9月， 在20xx年被武汉理工大学录取。 当时我的专业是信息管理和信息系统。后来通过1-2-1这个国际合作项目获得了赴美留学的宝贵机会。 由于当时对专业选择的限制，我选择了经济学B.S.作为我在乔治梅森的专业。 毕竟在乔治梅森大学有2位曾获得诺贝尔经济学奖的教授在校任教，这一点还是相当有吸引力的。
2年前当我在北京国际机场与父母挥手告别时，我对自己前往的美国和我即将遭遇的环境没有丝毫概念。我们坐飞机大概花了18个小时才到，到达华盛顿特区时已是当地时间深夜。在一起前往美国的同学中，一共有8名学生来自武汉理工，2名来自云南大学，2名来自南京师范大学，2名来自苏州大学，还有1名来自山东大学威海分校。在机场接我们的当时有乔治梅森负责1-2-1项目的Madelyn Ross, 还有Diane Wang，乔治梅森国际办公室主任Julia Findley和国际办公室里负责所有中国学生的张瑞明老师。这些老师在我们留美的2年期间给了我们无微不至的关怀和莫大的帮助。在20xx年我们也陪同Madelyn Ross 和 Diane Wang, Julia Findley前往机场去迎接了新的1-2-1的学生。这样就避免了很多行李运输上面的麻烦。
乔治梅森大学对学习专业课的托福考试要求是570分以上。如果学生在到达乔治梅森之前没有考过托福，学生在到达美国后的一个星期要参加一个英语等级
考试，由乔治梅森大学英语学习中心（ELI）安排。这个考试包括4个部分：听力、句子结构、词汇和写作。就大部分学生而言，词汇是最难的一个部分。每一个部分的总分是100分，考试总分是400分。考试成绩超过350分的同学可以直接进入专业课的学习，分数达到300到350的可以学2门专业课附加2门英语课程。分数在280到300的则可以学一门专业课附加4门英语课程。而280以下则不得不全力学英语了。当时我很幸运地考过280分得以学习专业课的机会。我的第一门专业课是心理学100，是我第一次真真地接触美国大学课堂。现在回想起自己在乔治梅森大学的第一个学期，就像我在英语学习中心的英语等级Transition—转换。那是一个将自我由中国大学的传统教育转换到西方教育系统中的过程。在英语学习中心的课程并不是很紧张，我因此有了大量的时间去接触学校的各个部门和学校所在的美丽城市Fairfax。 同时在这段时间有大量机会去结交国际友人。
美国大学的教育系统合中国大学的教育系统还是有很大区别的。在美国大学里，学生拥有很大的学习自主性。在每个新学期开始之前，学生往往有很多工作要提前做好。通常学生是在本学期末就要选好下学期上的课。学生可以在网上注册，同时学生还可以在网上选择课程的时间和老师。这样可以根据自己的生活作息习惯来安排自己的课程表，比如说我不喜欢起早床去上课，那么我可以把课程全都安排在下午或晚上。更极端一点的， 或者说大部分美国学生都采用的是尽量把课程放在前三天或四天，那样的话每个星期就有3天甚至4天的休息时间了。 至于选择老师，它决定了下个学期的学习走势。同学们可以在网上找到各个老师的信息和以前上过他们课的学生对他们的评价。在新学期开始以后，同学们仍有机会改变自己的课程安排，在头一周都可以自由注册和放弃某个课程。 那就意味着学生可以先去试听老师的讲课。之所以选择老师对一个新学期的开始至关重要，是因为在美国大学里教授有相当大的自主性。教授可以决定自己的教科书和课程安排，同时教授也决定了其课程的考试制度。所以即使是同一门课，选的老师不同可能学习的结果也会差别很大。因此注册课程的时候，要特别注意老师的选择，同时要提前注册，要是晚了，可能好老师的课就没位置留给你了。
在美国的教育系统里面，教学的方法更倾向于启发性。通常来说学生的想法和课堂讨论在课堂上是非常重要的一部分。在学习的过程中最好能与教授和助教多交谈，这样会对自己的学习帮助很大。作为一个国际学生，与美国和其他国家的一些学生多进行交流，也可以增加自己对不同国家和文化的认识。
读书、读书，书可以学习最重要的环节之一。由于版权昂贵，书的价格也相对非常昂贵了。在学校的书店里面，大部分新书都相当的贵。比如说我的第一本书—心理学基本概念， 当时在学校书店里面买的二手书价值80多美元。初到美国，一时还接受不了这个价格。到后来习以为常，书也越来越贵。学到高级的经济专业课，通常一本新书高达150美元左右，二手书也要100美元左右。好在同学们有其他途径买到课本。首先有些课程不一定需要课本的，尤其是有些老师考察的内容主要是上课的讲义。所以这种情况下认真做好笔记就好了。或者所要买的课本不是太厚可以考虑直接将其重点内容复印一遍。 除以上2个渠道外，可以选择在网上购买，其价格相对便宜很多。
生活方面，我觉得最大的问题还是在食物方面。在乔治梅森大学有很多地方可以享受美食。在前两个学期里，由于所住的学生宿舍没有厨房，大部分时间都在学校的食堂Ciao Hall吃饭。那是一个自助餐厅，同学们可以吃到汉堡、pizza、墨西哥菜、沙拉、各式水果和饮料等等。在我们搬到带厨房的学生公寓后，我们也时常去Ciao Hall 吃饭。既然有了厨房，大家的厨艺自然会进步不少。和朋友一起做饭会充满乐趣，做好后还可以请自己的外国室友或美国朋友一起吃饭，让他们见识一下什么叫真正的中国菜。问题是在学期中课业很繁忙，而做饭是很费时的，所以一般只有假期和节假日时才会好好做一顿饭。如果同学们想尝试一下异国的美食，Fairfax在饮食方面非常国际化，同学们可以找到各国精美饮食。
在美国的2年里，我利用课余时间在美国各地游历了一番。细想一下这2年到过的地方有北卡、纽约、费城、新奥尔良、拉斯维加斯、圣地亚哥、犹他州的盐湖城和黄石国家公园。俗话说读万卷书不如行万里路，看看外面的世界有多精彩，我一辈子都不会忘记那些旅途的经历。我不得不说，如果不借这个机会到处
去见识一下，将来回想起来一定会后悔的。
对于能有赴美留学两年的机会，我一直心存感激。我觉得出国留学的经历让我变得更成熟，对这个世界和自己有了更多的认识和了解。我相信这些收获对我将来的影响很大，为我今后的成功打下了基石。对于CCIEE，我觉得他们已经把这个项目越做越好，从我们下一届的新生中就可以看出来。然而仍然有一些细节需要去完善，尤其是中方大学和美方大学的交流问题。但我相信这些问题在不久的将来就会得到解决。
Way to America
Personal Information
Name: Wang Zhihui
Gender: Male
Chinese University: Wuhan University of Technology
American University: George Mason University
Major: Economics
Study in GMU from August 2005 to June 2007
My name is Zhihui Wang, and my English name is Joshua. I was born on September 13th, 1986. I got enrolled into Wuhan University of Technology in September 2004. My major was Information System and Management. Through U.S.-China 1-2-1 Dual Degree Program, I got the opportunity to study in America for two years. Within the limit of major’s choices, I picked Economics B.S. as my major in George Mason University since there are two Noble Economics Prize winners teaching in this university.
Honestly I had a great time in the past two years. When I said goodbye to my parents in Beijing International Airport, I had no idea about the place I was heading to
and what situations I would meet. America was such a far place in my mind, but actually it only took 18 hours to be there. In our group, we have another seven students from Wuhan University of Technology, two from Yunnan University, two from Nanjing Normal University, three from Soochow University, and one from Shandong University. When we arrived in Washington.D.C. Regan Airport, I was tired of the long flight. However, my mind was filled with more excitement than tiredness. Our director Madelyn Ross, Diane Wang, her husband Andrew, the director of George Mason University’s Office of International Programs and Services (OIPS) Julia Findley, and her assistant director Mingzhang Rui welcomed us in the airport. They took care of our big luggage, which made it much easier for us to get to school. Every year our group director Diane Wang, Madelyn Ross and people from OIPS do the same thing to welcome new students in 1-2-1 program. They drove us to the dormitory in Fairfax Campus of George Mason University, which would be our new home in America. After we unpacked our luggage, everybody needed to sleep first. The problem was that some students did not bring mattress or sheets. Diane and Madelyn helped them to borrow those sleeping stuff from school. Everybody finally got heavenly peace at that night.
The TOEFL score is required to be over 570 by George Mason University. If we did not take TOEFL before, we had to take an English placement test in the first week, which was held by the English Language Institute (ELI) from George Mason University. The test is like the old TOEFL test, and it includes four parts: listening, structures, vocabulary, and writing. The part of vocabulary is more difficult than the other three parts for most students. Each part is 100 points. Over 350 points, we can go to study academic courses directly without taking any English courses. From 300 to 350, students can take two academic courses with taking some English courses. From 280 to 300, we can take only one academic course with taking English courses. Under 280, students have to study English without taking any academic courses. Fortunately my score was over 280, and I got into Transition level in ELI. I could
study academic courses Psychology 100, University 100 and English courses like reading, speaking, and writing in ELI. Looking back to the very first semester in George Mason University, it is exactly like my English level in ELI-- transition. The class in ELI is not very tight; therefore, I had plenty of time to know more about American university and society.
American university system is quite different from Chinese university system. In American university, Students have a lot of work to do before a new semester begins. Students usually register next semester’s courses online at the end of the current semester, and they can choose different class times and different professors according their preferences. So if you can handle all those courses in three days, you can schedule all your courses in three days, and then you will have four days free every week. About choosing professors, it is the key point that determines how your new semester goes. You can find most professors’ information online. There are also many comments about those professors, written by students who have taken those courses. After new semester begins, you still have one or two weeks to register or drop courses without any penalty. That means you can drop the course after listening to the first lecture. The professors in American universities can decide which textbook they will use, how they will teach, and how they will grade. Usually professors will hand out the syllabus for the whole semester in the first class. It includes the required books, topics in each class, and scales of grade. Different professors have different grading system. Some of them care about students’ attendance, so they will place a heavy scale of grade on attendance. However, if they don’t care if you are in class at all, they can put zero scale on attendance. Different professors can make the same courses totally different. On the other hand, you can choose professors by their classes’ schedule. If you don’t want to wake up too early, you can make all your first classes after 10:30am, or even 1:30 PM. However, if you register too late, there will not be any good time or professor left.
Within the US education system, teaching methods tend to be informal and student opinion and discussion are encouraged. Most programs offer students the opportunity to get to know their tutors and professors and this can really help you, as an international student, to enjoy and maximize your study experience.
The textbooks usually can be bought in the bookstore of school. Most new textbooks are very expensive. There are also used books in the bookstore, but the number of used books is limited. However, even the used books are still expensive. For example, each of my Economics major textbooks costs about USD 150, and the used book costs about USD 100. Fortunately, we have other ways buying textbooks. First, some courses don’t need textbooks if the professors mainly focus on their lectures and notes in class. Secondly, we can make a copy ourselves if the book is not too thick. Besides those two, we buy our textbooks online sometimes. You may find different copies on Ebay website, so you have to make sure the ISBN and author of the book.
Food is the biggest adjustment to most new students. In George Mason University, there are a lot of places to enjoy your meals. For the first and second semester, I lived in dormitory Commonwealth without kitchen. We had to book meal plans in school’s cafeteria Ciao Hall, which is a buffet. You can eat burgers, Mexican food, Italian food, salad, and all kind of drinks. What’s more, each meal only costs 5 dollars no matter how much you can eat. You have many choices in booking meal plans: 10 meals, 15 meals, or 19 meals a week. After we moved into Student Apartment, we ordered 25 flexible meals since there is a kitchen in the apartment. There are some Korean and Chinese supermarkets in Fairfax. If you get sick of burgers and pizzas on campus, you can cook by yourself. There is a lot of fun to cook with friends. You also can invite foreign friends to taste your food, and tell them what real Chinese food is. It takes time to cook, so I didn’t cook a lot in regular semester. Besides Ciao Hall, you can find food in Johnson Center and Damon’s, and there is Chinese food in the food court
of Johnson Center. Actually there are many fancy Chinese, Korean and Japanese restaurants in Fairfax. Besides Asian food, there are also Indian, Greek, and Italian restaurants. Open your mouth and you can enjoy various food in Fairfax.
In American universities, spring and fall semesters are regular semester, and summer semester is optional semester. Spring semester is from January to May, and fall semester is from September to December. Summer semester is divided into three sessions. A session starts from May, and C session ends in August. So students can travel around after Session C or in the Spring Break of spring semester. In these two years, I have traveled to North Carolina, New York, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Las Vegas, San Diego, Utah and Yellow Stone National Park. It is fun to see different world. I have to say it is a shame if you don’t take the opportunity to travel around in the two years.
I feel very grateful to these two years’ experiences in America. It makes me more informative, and pushed me to be independent. I do not think I was successful in the past two years, and I just feel like studying abroad enlighten me and let me know more about this world and reality. I believe it has built a strong base for my success in the future. To my parents, no words can express my appreciation to them. The only thing I can do is never letting them down.
CCIEE is the founder of this program, which offered this opportunity to us. I think they have done an excellent job to help students. However, there are still some details to develop like the communication between Chinese universities and American universities. So far, I have seen a lot of developments in next 1-2-1 group, which shows that this program will be more complete and successful.