Please join the Office of Internationalization in congratulating the winners of the International Student Essay Contest. Three international DU students will be honored by the Office of Internationalization at the Colorado Consular Reception in May for essays about their intercultural experiences as students in the U.S. Agathe Kossakowski, an exchange student from France, won first place while second place was awarded to Haoyan Sun, a student in the Daniels College of Business, and third place went to Rachana Mukherjee, a student in Computer Information Systems. The students will receive prizes of $500, $250 and $100 respectively. The annual DU International Student Essay contest, open to all DU international students, accepts short essays from students about a defining moment in their experiences in the U.S. that gives insight to differences in culture, interpersonal relations, educational or political areas.
The winning essays are printed below.
"Colour your International Experience in Colorado"
by Agathe Kossakowski, exchange student
6 AM, end of August. I arrive in Denver, Colorado. For me, it is still night and I do not realize yet where I am, what I am doing here, for how long, where to take my luggage etc.
" – Good morning miss, did you enjoy your trip? Can I see the number of your flight?". Waouh, people are nice here! In France, do not try to have a conversation with someone you do not know: French people would consider you a psychopath trying to desperately make some friends! But here, everybody smiles, nobody seems really stressed. Flip flops, shorts, sunglasses and even… cow boy hats! Yes, I am definitely in Colorado!
I take the shuttle and arrive at my dorm. But this is not funny anymore. Is it a joke? Am I really supposed to share one little room with a girl I have never seen before? Do Americans know what intimacy is? Privacy?
It was really hard for me to discover my room in Towers. In France, there are no dorms, and even in special students’ apartments, you would never share a single room. But Alexandra, my roommate, is such a nice person that I quickly realized it would even be better for me to have someone understanding and helping me!
The day after, the orientation week starts. I look at the planning: free breakfast, some activities, free lunch, visit of the campus, free dinner. Ouh, they love to eat! I tell myself the cliché about fat Americans must be true. But I quickly realize that what Americans really like is to gather, meet new people, and food is just a good way to have people come and stay.
I quickly meet a lot of different people. I have to answer a few strange questions about my country and continent. "Did France stay in Algeria because you have no coasts at all and you wanted to have an access to sea?", "Do you speak French in France?". It was funny to see that I was not the only one discovering many things!
After the first week, classes started. I took very interesting ones, mainly linked with communication. The high level of in-class participation was so striking for me. In France, you sit, you listen, you write. Here, everybody has something to say – even if sometimes it seems obvious common sense. It was hard for me to adapt, but I started to really like interacting and debating.
After a few weeks, I really started to feel American. No hills, no black formal jackets and elegant skirts anymore. Yes mum, I wear sport clothes –or even pajama pants- everyday. I do not take my breakfast at home anymore: I eat my bagel in class, drinking my Starbucks’ double espresso – which honestly, cannot be considered as coffee! And when I meet people I know while walking, I even say "hi" and smile!
The day I really, really, really felt I love my American experience was when I went skiing with some American friends. They came to pick me up, not with what I would call a car but rather a monster truck, and we drove to Breckenridge where I saw the most beautiful landscapes ever. Different colours, different textures. I really was in the colourful Colorado people described to me before I actually arrived!
My American experience is really made of everyday surprises – always good even if, sometimes, a little strange! I would really recommend travelling abroad, at least for a year. To study, but also to learn about life. "Study, but don’t let your studies interfere with your education" is something I have often heard and I am starting to apply!
"Chinese Value, Made in China"
by Haoyan Sun, graduate student in the Daniels College of Business
Once seeing an article named World can’t live without China, my French classmate threw back his head and roared with laughter, saying “How funny it is, without China, the world is still the world.” I looked him in the eye, speaking slowly and clearly, “Without China, you would have no blanket when sleeping; without China, you would have no clothes to put on; without China, you couldn’t even celebrate Christmas.” This story happened one year ago when I studied abroad in France.
One year later, when I was sitting at home with my American host family and chatting about how some Chinese refuse to buy anything made in Japan because of the historical conflicts, my host mom was a little embarrassed, saying “We actually have people in the U.S who refuse to use ‘Made in China’.” Soon afterwards by chance I read a book named A Year without Made in China, by Sara Bongiorni. In her book, she described the one year life experience of looking for everything not made in China. At the end she said: “After a year without China I can tell you this: You can still live without it, but it's getting trickier and costlier by the day. And a decade from now I may not be brave enough to try it again.” What complicated emotions the Americans had about China and Made in China!
It is always interesting to see how the “Made in China” label affects people's lives in the U.S. In Disneyland, I spent a whole afternoon shopping for gifts for my friends in China. Except for a few Disney T-shirts made in Guatemala or Mexico, almost everything to my liking was made in China. According to China Business Weekly , more than 70% of the goods sold in Wal-Mart were made in China. As a Chinese, it seems I should feel proud of the wide use of Chinese products, but I know it is millions of migrated workers from rural to urban areas to provide unlimited, low-wage workforces that create the low product prices. However, are the Americans grateful to the poorly paid Chinese workers for providing such low-cost goods? Not exactly. On the one hand, they benefit from the cheap Chinese products, on the other hand, they complain about Chinese product quality. For me, it is understandable, when seeing so many stories about the recall or banning of Chinese products because of safety concerns. During the past half year I stayed in the U.S, there were lots of criticisms about the Chinese products quality by the U.S media and public. In my opinion, although Chinese local government and businesses should take the prime responsibility of these quality issues, some of the blame has to lie with sloppy management by Western companies, who are at the top of the supply chain. Instead of squeeze costs, they should carry out a full audit of the supply chain and ensure all aspects of it meet their own high standards.
My host Mom told me that at one time in the U.S everything was made in Japan. Those products, at that time, signified low-end, low cost and low quality. However, gradually they had shaken off the low-end images and instead, the “Made in Japan” label became the symbol of high quality. One day, I believe, “Made in China” label will be regarded as the emblem of high value. Breathing the invigorating air of capitalism, China is sure to convince the world of its high value in the long run. It needs the time and patience of the whole world.
1. Sara Bongiorni, A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy, Wiley, June 29, 2007
2. China Business Weekly, November 29, 2004
Shortly after receiving word of a full scholarship at DU, I packed up my life and landed in Denver to pursue a degree in music. Despite the concern of parents and relatives about my particular career choice, I stuck to my guns. I was always regarded as a bright and promising student, thus the crossover to a seemingly un-academic field was not understood.
Upon arrival in the United States, I quickly discovered that by and large, the American people were an unassuming lot. Thanks to early exposure to American media, I was not entirely surprised at this, but a first hand experience was illuminating. I remember feeling immobilized and not knowing what to do initially. Here I was, a product of a culture that dictated conformity, living in a nation that did exactly the opposite. For the first time, I felt that it was acceptable to be expressive, away from a society that I found to be skeptical of individuals making non-traditional choices.
Since I spent my childhood in an environment that had difficulty in fully growing out of evils such as the caste system and gender discrimination to name a few, I was impressed to learn that in the United States, it was possible for policies such as affirmative action, equal opportunity and non-discrimination to be enforced or treated with seriousness. By no means is my intent is to depict the United States as a utopian state, but back home, there was always more to be desired in matters of order, infrastructure and change.
Over the course of my program, I visited home three times. But the home I knew was gradually becoming unrecognizable. The physical landscape was altered by way of skylines, crowded by new skyscrapers in construction, and the thoroughfares packed with vehicles, that seemed to double in accordance with my visits. The rise of an economically empowered middle-class was clearly evident. Much to everyone’s delight, the nation was moving closer to the dream of achieving prosperity and efficiency. Back in the United States, I felt as if I were being pulled in opposite directions: towards America, the hotbed of capitalism and individualism, and towards India, an economy on fire, sometimes forgetting its roots in its enthusiasm for consumer goods.
This is my sixth year in United States. Having spent the entirety of my adult life here, I am always trying to clarify, reconcile and separate my fragmented identities of past, present and future. This is a difficult task when my realities consist of: on one hand, Americans, looking to yoga for instant salvation, and on the other hand, Indians at home, scrambling to find ways to spend their newly acquired wealth.
In the end I have realized through my conversations with American, international and Indian friends alike, that there is a lack of balance in our fragmented world. Many Americans have voiced concern that the eastern hemisphere is slow to catch up to the individual centric model of the west. There is a notion that easterners are more inclined to subscribe to group focused social orders. I would tend to agree with this idea. I additionally believe that the latter phenomenon facilitates strong social frameworks while creating a bi-product; a complex rule bound environment. The individual centric model is thus more conducive to personal enrichment, and empowerment on particular individuals’ terms.
In a world that does not always make sense, I have learnt through my experiences and conversations that we can only look ahead and strive to implement solutions. In the face of differences we must focus on commonalities of the human experience and believe in ourselves as instruments of change.
