Prompt:Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is
important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud, and how does it
relate to the person you are?
Almost three months ago after graduating high school, I embarked on an adventure of a year
abroad in Italy. I expected a fun and enriching experience of living in another country and
experiencing a new culture with only one problem - I don't speak Italian. I knew that learning
a new language would be difficult, but since I'm smart and hard working, I knew I could do
it. Although I started with a basic grasp of the language using online tools and videos (e.g.
Pimsleur), I tried my best to communicate and learn as much as I could. Despite my best
efforts, I was barely part of conversations and spent most of my time with no clue about what's
going on. However, that was to be expected after only being there 1 week, then 2 weeks, then
3 weeks. "Well it takes a while", I told myself, "I'll be doing fine after 2 months". Then two
months rolled around faster than I expected and I was still terrible; when I was in a group, I
avoided talking because I felt so stupid for not being able to say things how I wanted and wait
for someone to ask me a question,. It was very disheartening as I felt confused and lonely every
day, and I thought that I would never improve.
But with the advice of my host brother, I realized something that I've known for a while and just
forgot to put into practice; whining and complaining about stupid things doesn't help, and if you
want something to change, change it! I only had to change one thing: my mindset. I stopped
accepting being confused and not understanding and I stopped worrying if people thought
poorly of me for not understanding or for speaking incorrectly. Once I started just speaking and
asking questions, I learned so much more and actually participated in conversations even if most
of my comments were "Io non capito"(I don't understand) and "che cos'è" (What is that). Who
would have thought that actually speaking a language helps you learn to speak it? I learned so
much faster than before and now I'm well on my way to fluency.
Learning Italian is a great accomplishment for me. It has been more then just a difficult
intellectual challenge, which I'm used to, but it has also pushed me out side my comfort zone
and forced me to become less shy and self-conscious. This has shown me that when things
get difficult, with a little help and by putting myself out there, I'll push through and rise to the
challenge. I've also discovered that while many things may come easy for me, it is overcoming
the difficult challenges that is most rewarding and allows me to grow intellectually and
personally.
I uploaded a document...let me know if you can't read it!
Gaah. Stupid computer won't upload it! Fine. I'll just make a whole freaking website, and stick it on that.
go to i-posted-it-here-for-you.blogspot.
I posted my comments there. I promise it's not a stupid site or anything, I just made it. I will beat you yet, *$%^% technology.
Oh yah, and lemme know when you've read it I'll delete the blog. Don't want that floating around out there.
