special report
special report
Steven Shi La Jolla Country Day School 26 November 2016 San Diego , USA
Dear Sofia ,
Time really has flown by since the first time I heard about the exchange program , over half a year ago . The only thing I could think of , as I was rushing to hand in the application , was that I couldn ’ t miss out on this opportunity . But I didn ’ t think that I would receive an offer , so I only casually mentioned the program to my parents as I was about to hand in the application . When the Dean of Admission , Rachael Beare , who manages the program , sent me an email telling me that I had been selected , I was somewhat bewildered by the thought of going to school in America , halfway across the world .
Honestly , since I had never been to the US before and going to school for a semester in America was not part of some grand plan , I just felt a tinge of excitement , mixed with
26 The Keystone Magazine uncertainty , and a feeling that I didn ’ t want to leave Keystone .
My life in America is much more “ plain ” than I had expected . There aren ’ t any of those three-course hamburger or steak dinners that you see in the movies or any of those big gleaming cities . I also did not expect that I would feel so lonely so quickly . I always thought of myself as being quite independent . I didn ’ t really see my parents that much since joining Keystone , but I suddenly found myself feeling homesick , missing all kinds of things that are important to me . I keep dreaming that I am back wandering around the Keystone campus .
I now attend your school in La Jolla , San Diego and I stay with a host family . They are a middle-aged American couple ; the father runs a home decorating business , while the mother is a dentist . They have three children , two of whom have already gone to college , so there is enough space for me and another Chinese student . My host parents prepare meals for me , take me to the supermarket and show me a lot about what life in America is like . When I am wracking my brains about my schoolwork , they are always there for me , looking after me and making me feel secure .
The first week at school was the toughest . I didn ’ t know a single person there and could barely say a word in English . I just kept asking myself how I could get through months of this . But this feeling of uneasiness also reminded me of all the help that my friends and teachers on the other side of the world back at Keystone gave me . When you didn ’ t know anyone or didn ’ t even dare to lift your head up when walking down the school hallway , as was the case with me , a word of encouragement from home would give me more strength and more of that “ warm and fuzzy ” feeling than I could imagine . In October , Keystone ’ s Dean of Residential Life , Dr . Juli James , also surprised me by coming to see me in San Diego and telling me that my friends and teachers at Keystone were thinking of me . I can ’ t even begin to describe how I felt when I saw that familiar smiling face , and heard her one-in-a-million laugh .
Once I braved through the first week I started to feel a lot better . My classmates were actually really friendly ; and I made some friends and even began to see some familiar faces when walking around the school . But I also realized that making friends was only the first challenge . Thankfully , Keystone had prepared me well , especially when it came to Western teaching methods . Take science classes for instance , where the approach to laboratory work and the writing up of experiment results is quite similar to that at Keystone . And in History , we analyze our source materials in the exact way as at Keystone . All these seemingly little things helped me to quickly adapt to studying in the US .
As time passed and I started to adapt , I began to relax a little , and even started to enjoy how things were taught here . I liked how LJCDS , very much like Keystone , helps its students find opportunities . As long as one makes a conscious effort , he or she can always find resources and opportunities to develop further .
LJCDS is a private school that offers a continuous academic track , from preschool to grade 12 , even AP classes . This school is really similar to Keystone in its philosophies on teaching and learning , with a focus on not only the academic , but also on allround development in areas such as art , physical education and character-building . Each school day consists of six lessons of 50 minutes each , including a self-study session , and when the bell rings at the end of the day , almost everyone takes part in a sport . The sports on offer change with the seasons but generally contain all types of ball games , such as soccer , basketball , volleyball , American football , baseball as well as athletics like crosscountry , track and field , and cheerleading . For those who don ’ t want to do sport , there are also many student-run clubs .
I chose cross-country . For those going to a new school , I would strongly recommend they pick up at least one sport in the first semester . This is because you make “ friends ” in classrooms , but become “ buddies ” only on a sports team . At an average of six kilometers a day , cross-country was as exciting as it was tough . In fact , after the initial burst of excitement had worn off , I realized that all long-distance programs were really all about endurance . During the conference and invitational races we have each Saturday , I feel the runner ’ s high . Whenever I cross the finish line under the midday sun that heats the air to 30 degrees Celsius , every part of me is screaming out “ never again .” But when I look back at the course , at the five kilometers that I just completed and all the people I left