Undergraduate / "to be the most influential person in the world" + "NUY mini World" -NYU Suplement [3]

Q: what led you to select both your anticipated academic area(s) of study and the NYU school / college / program or the Abu Dhabi campus. What interests you most about your intended discipline?

A: I have a dream to be the most influential person in the world. I want to compete internationally and achieve outstanding with modern thinking, but still keeping my Asian values. I believe, NYUAD would be the perfect place to me. I choose Sosial Research and Public Policy as my field of study because I am interested in global issues that occur in multi-cultural environment. I enjoyed when I work voluntarily at some social organizations and often participate in youth conference to discuss social issues.

Q: NYU is 'In and of the City' and 'In and of the World.' What does the concept of a global network university mean to you? How do you think studying in New York City, Abu Dhabi, or one of NYU's global sites would change you as a person and equip you to build cross-cultural relationships at NYU and beyond?

A: NYU is a miniature version of the world. I can see the mixture of several languages and mingling of cultures. In this environment, I'm able to mould myself into my own ideal of model for the future. Studying in Abu Dhabi would help me to become an open-minded person who eager to grow through learning with diverse classmates and can take advantage of opportunities to expand horizons. It would also teach me how to shape my world and equip me with cross-cultural understanding in becoming a global citizen.

Please help me about this. Thanks!

Undergraduate / "Oprah, my favorite American television host" - NYU suplement [2]

Please help me with any grammar error, and well tell me what they think about my responses. Thank you!

If you had the opportunity to bring any person -- past or present, fictional or nonfictional -- to a place that is special to you (your hometown or country, a favorite location, etc), who would you bring and why? Tell us what you would share with that person.

I will bring Oprah Winfrey-my favorite American television host-to my beloved hometown, Indonesia. I want to share how her programs-The Oprah Show-and her life stories have influenced and inspired my social life. They have taught me about the wonderful if we could share with other people in the world. I want her to get together to help people in my country. Not only in America, but also people all over the world need help and motivation from her.

Give me some advices please!!!

Undergraduate / "We can learn anywhere and anytime" - activities or work experiences [2]

Can you please evaluate my short essay? Please check any grammar error. I really need your help. Thank you! :D

Q: Please briefly elaborate your extracurricular activities or work experiences.

"Can you help me do the problems of this English? I do not understand" That's the phrase that I often hear when I teach. This past year, I became a volunteer worker at Yayasan Bina Insan Mandiri. The Foundation established a free school for poor children in my city. Every Saturday, I work voluntarily, without pay, as a teacher at the school. The students in this school is elementary school students. I teach English at this school, but sometimes they ask me to teach some other subjects such as Tahfizul Koran, mathematics, etc. In addition, I also often share experiences and provide motivation for them. Being a volunteer worker at the foundation, not only provides work experience for me, but also provide a very valuable lesson and can not I get when I sit and listen to lessons from my teacher in class. My students come from different backgrounds. Even among them, there are those who have to work to help their parents to buy food and daily necessities to them. Although they have the economic slump, but my students always show the joy and enthusiasm for learning while in class. This made me more aware, that I should always give thanks to God and makes me more convinced that there is no single reason that can prevent us to learn. Learning is not something we can do only when in school. We can learn anywhere and anytime.

Undergraduate / "It's just different" - Cross-cultural understanding --- CommonApp. [2]

Hey there. I just want to submit my common app. I haven't finished my essay. So, can you just take for a while and read my essay? I know that there're sooooo many mistakes, especially about grammar. I need your comments and advices. Please help me! Thanks!

It's just different

I have a simple experience of cross-cultural understanding. When I participated in student exchange programs sponsored by the American Field Service (AFS), they gave me the opportunity to experience a homestay with a family in Japan. When I arrived at their home for the first time, they asked if I wanted to go to the sento (public bath) or Onsen (hot spring) to take a bath together. They explained to me that going to a public baths are very common and it is a culture from generation to generation to appreciate the guests who came to their house.

I was surprised with their offer. Previously, I've never had to go to public bathhouse. I never even thought to go there, because in my opinion, take a bath together and naked is a bit strange. I know it is part of their way to respect me as a guest and positioned me as a member of their family. However, the offer from them contrary to my beliefs. I tried to explain them about the reasons why I do not want to go to the sento and Onsen. Amazingly I was able to overcome these problems without making them upset and offended.

Cultural differences sometime can pose a risk, at least will cause the non-current communication, uncomfortable feelings or misunderstandings. But in my experience when in the midst of their families, although in a relatively short time, I could overcome those differences and be able to build an effective communication with all family members. In fact, they were very impressed with my ability to adapt quickly and familiar to all family members.

From the cross-cultural experience that I had, I believe that I can do this because this is an excess that I have to build a highly effective communication. And all the problems of cultural differences can be resolved well if we respect each respective culture without demeaning each other. Because if we talk about culture, it's not wrong, it's not right, it's just different.

Undergraduate / It's different; cross-cultural understanding---Essay for commonapp. [2]

Hey there. I just want to submit my common app. I haven't finished my essay. So, can you just take for a while and read my essay? I know that there're sooooo many mistakes, especially about grammar. I need your comments and advices. Please help me! Thanks!

I have a simple experience of cross-cultural understanding. When I participated in a student exchange program sponsored by the American Field Service (AFS), they gave me the opportunity to experience a homestay with a family in Japan. I found some differences between Japanese and my hometown, Indonesia. About religion, time discipline, habits, and so on. And the most obvious difference is about their habit. One was when I arrived at their home for the first time, they asked if I wanted to go to the sento (public bath) or onsen (hot spring) to take a bath together. They explained to me that going to public baths is very common and that the invitation is a part of cultural tradition used to appreciate guests at their houses.

I was surprised at the offer. Previously, I had never gone to a public bathhouse. I never even thought to go there as I am not accustomed to taking baths, undressed, with others. While I understand that this is a way they show their respect for me as a guest and embrace me as part of their family, the offer made me uncomfortable. I attempted to explain the reasons why I did not want to go to the sento or onsen and amazingly enough I was to handle the situation without upsetting or offending them. Actually, I think that this is a unique culture and I like the way they are to keep it.

In the other hand, they saw a difference in how I dress-up. I am a muslim and wear hijab on my head. They asked me why I always wear a kind of scarf on my head and because it was winter, they also asked if I wore a scarf over her head to avoid me from the cold. Yes, I did see two differences here, about religion and how to dress. I tried to explain them that this is a principle that I confided in my religion. And I did not see difficulty to handle things like this, so my host family. We maintain our principles, but we also respect each other.

Cultural differences can sometimes pose a risk causing at the very least the non-current communication, uncomfortable feelings or misunderstandings. But in my experience when in the midst of their family, although only a relatively short time, I could overcome those differences and be able to communicate effectively with all family members. In fact, they were very impressed with my ability to adapt quickly and familiarly to the entirety of them.

From the cross-cultural experience that I have had, I believe that I can do this because this is an excess that I have to build a highly effective communication. And all the problems of cultural differences can be resolved completely if we simply learn to respect each others culture without demeaning one another. When we talk about culture, it's not wrong, it's not right, it's just different.