I was told an anecdote about Cornell when I first came here. People say there are four seasons in Ithaca: Orientation week, pre-winter, winter, and post-winter. By now I think I understand what they mean. Ithaca is gorgeous, and Cornell is definitely the most beautiful school that I have ever seen. The days before school started were relaxed and fun, filled with furniture shopping, campus walking, pictures taking and of course, food tasting.

For that week of orientation we enjoyed a beautiful Ithaca summer.

Then school started. And no matter how you wish you could just enjoy the weather and have fun, times flies. And I can’t believe right now 1/3 of the semester has already passed.

For most Chinese students who take undergraduate study in China, graduate study in America will be a challenge. You can no longer be fine skipping classes, partying or dating and cramming the night before finals. And college life here in the U.S. is not about Justin Bieber and ice cream as you might think.

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There is an undeniable excitement about coming to study in the States – one reason why some international students do it – but it’s not all excitement.

You're about to hear the truth about schoolwork in the States...

Yes, it is America. Yes, it is the land of freedom. Yes, it’s the place where different cultures clash…and live together in peace. However, you guys might agree with me, it’s not easy to leave home, to leave the security of being surrounded by the family, friends and people who loves and care about us.  And doing it raises some questions:

Is it worth it? Can you rise up to the expectation? And are you competitive enough to survive America?

You might be sitting in front of your computer watching a show or a documentary about America, which tells you about the breathtaking view of skyscrapers in the Big Apple, New York City, the beautiful warm weather in San Diego, and the huge parties along the beaches of the Sunshine State, Florida.

Just so you know, it’s all true and they did not lie to you. I remember I had an adrenaline rush the first time I visited Times Square in NYC. I can’t find any words in the dictionary to describe how I felt at that moment. Someday, when you get lucky and go there, you will know what I mean.

Beaches are the best. We do party and we do have lots of fun with friends.

Unfortunately, TV and movies never show the other side of what students have to do to survive America.

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Spring showers, thunderstorms, sunshine and 70 degree weather can only mean one thing in Syracuse- it’s almost time for summer. The last few months have flown by and this is my last week of classes before finals.

Creative commons photo by Flickr user leeroy09481

Uggg, finals.  Can you sense my excitement? Three months away from the classroom is just around the corner, but today, I doubt you could find a single student on campus who isn’t feeling the pressure of finals week.

There are a few tips to keep your head above water when the month of May starts to roll around, but it might take some extreme willpower to stay on track. I know it does for me.

Make a schedule

After my first year at Syracuse I realized that I needed to rework how I go about studying for finals week.  Writing a paper in one night and then leaving yourself only an hour or two to study for an exam just doesn’t work.  Trust me, I’ve tried.

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New Year's Eve in Ho Chi Minh City (Photo courtesy NamDao)

So 2011 has commenced. I am now onto the fourth week of my winter break here in Vietnam. Basically I am exhausted from all the travel, not to mention the tremendous amount of food I have tried to stuff myself for the last three weeks. I figured I better try to take all in, as fast as possible: the “home” food, the warmth, the rain, the exotic fruits, the incense-filled air, the unique feel of Tet holiday coming…because in exactly one week, I will be stepping on a plane that carries me back to the dry land of Santa Fe to start off my second semester at St. Johns’ College.

Actually, I am excited and a bit nervous thinking about this coming semester: excited because I miss the college and my friends, nervous because the periodic stress from first semester is still dawning on me. It is certainly not a good thought to enter the new semester with. Nevertheless, this is an opportune moment to look back at my fall semester in 2010 and review what I have done right and wrong.

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Studying in the U.S. isn’t always fun and easy.  Sometimes it gets hard – really hard, as international student Irene from Malaysia shares:

The projects are pilling up, due dates are around the corner, exams are indefinitely coming soon in 2 weeks’ time and the contents of every courses are extremely difficult. Well, everyone would say this is what a graduate life should be and it is always more challenging than undergraduate. I do agree with that but the expectation is so high here and the pressure is just so intense that there are a few people who blackout  in labs or while working on projects.

“Headmaster’s Holiday tomorrow!” Somebody yelled and ran down the hallway. I listened to her while reading the last passages of my biology homework which was almost done. I quickly went to check my email to make sure of what I have just heard.

Yes! There is a holiday tomorrow. I cheered up.  Headmaster’s Holiday is a day off from classes that our headmaster gives us 6 times a year.  It’s a tradition at many boarding schools or prep schools, like Kent School, where I go to high school.

After a second though I realized that tomorrow is Wednesday. Wednesdays are half days at Kent School (the other half of the day is on Saturday), so I only have three classes, and I had done all my homework for those classes already.

“What is this holiday good for?” I asked myself.  I didn’t even have any tests or quizzes the next day, so I didn’t see any reason to get really excited about it.

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I sometimes think of my graduate program at George Washington University as a rite of passage.  It helps keep me motivated through those 12 hour days in the library, when I worry that I’m wasting the prime years of my life cooped-up in books.

Students at the Global Resources Center

I remember what my political science professor said on our first day of class: “If you’re a graduate student, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be reading all the time.”  He was talking about the trials of graduate study and his personal approach to teaching.  Of course, last week he appropriately assigned 553 pages on the comparative historical analysis of revolutionary change.

I think a lot of professors share that mindset though.  I met last April with my former Russian literature professor, who gave similar advice that, as a young man at this point in my life, I should be working my fingers to the bone.  His exact words: “Now’s the time to be like Stoltz!” – a particularly industrious, and awesome, character from Ivan Goncharov’s Oblomov.

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As the leaves start to turn and we finally get some autumnal weather in New Jersey, life here at Princeton is settling into its normal vibe of constant, city-never-sleeps activity.  Since we start in mid-September, later than most other American universities, classes are just now kicking into high gear; extra-curricular clubs are in full swing; and the freshmen are becoming more jaded as the glamor of college life becomes routine.  Though I only moved back to campus three weeks ago, it feels like I’ve lived here forever.

With the new season also comes an overflowing schedule.  Along with everyone else on campus, I’m guilty of packing approximately 48 hours’ worth of activities into each day, which gives me my fair share of chaotic days and too-late nights. Despite all the extra work, though, my extra-curricular groups are a big part of what makes my college experience so great.

This semester, I’m directing and producing a full-blown musical on campus, which means that my time spent away from my studies has been increasingly dominated by auditions, rehearsals, and meetings with my design team.
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