Education

Departing, attending, returning: a trilogy of change in overseas study

By Eric Jou (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-10 09:42

With the start of the fall semester looming ever closer, some students are preparing to return to classes while others are readying themselves to head overseas.

There are others too, those who are setting off for the first time to a strange and unknown land in the pursuit of the coveted Western education, which reputedly can lead to a better life.

Qu Zhi (left) stands with a classmate. She is readying herself to head off to Harvard University. [Photos provided to China Daily]

Leaving home

That is the hope of 18-year-old Qu Zhi, who is leaving Beijing and heading to Harvard University this fall.

Qu, who is no stranger to moving and starting life anew, is excited that she will be attending one of the most prestigious universities in the world, but nervous that she will not be accustomed to life in a faraway land.

"I feel like I would really like the educational system abroad," said Qu. "I want to experience something new and different."

Qu, who lives in Beijing but isn't a native to the city, was not allowed to take the college entrance exam here. Not put off, she took the SAT and TOEFL exams to qualify for entrance into American universities.

"This chance will give me the opportunity to understand different cultures in a way not possible in China," said Qu. "I will be able to look at China from a different perspective and learn more about my country and myself."

"It's exciting and I think it will be worth it," she added.

While Qu's hopes and aspirations are optimistic, the reality of the situation isn't what one might expect it to be.

College life in the West is vastly different from its equivalent in China. The education system is certainly more open to questions and its students are much more relaxed, but when combined with the cultural differences, produces a grand series of pitfalls that can spark a disastrous time abroad.