Scholarship in the United States - Essay Example

America was unfamiliar, and at each step, I came up against something or the other I knew nothing about.

I had much to learn and no one to teach me: no relatives, family, or friends. For the first time in my life, I was alone. My dreams of following up my education in this country began to crumble all around me, as I was unsure about how to even begin my learning when I was unable to understand a lot of what was being said around me.

But all that changed when I met my present host family for the first time. There was a warm feeling of kindness and understanding from the moment we first met, and somehow they took me in and treated me like they would treat their very own daughter. There was this instant feeling of connection, and I knew immediately that I was no longer alone.

They helped me with English and encouraged me to talk more and more in the language, urging me not to be shy, and insisting that if I did not make mistakes, I would not learn. Slowly, all the chatter around me began to make sense, and it was a relief to be able to greet the people around me in a language they understood. The family also encouraged me to take part in their life and to understand the frank, welcoming American culture.

In the course of my stay with them, I have been able to visit various American cities like Boston, New York, Kansas City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles in their company. I have seen America like it is, and not as I saw it earlier on television, and my respect for this country has grown. Traveling in America has broadened my horizons, and I have been able to understand the country and its people much more with my host family than I would have had I been on my own.

Not only that, my host family ensured I broke the barriers of being new to the country by encouraging me to participate in various school activities. Becoming part of extra-curricular school groups like the
Computer Club, Drama Club, and the Business Club not only gave me confidence in my abilities but also offered various opportunities to interact with American students. I was able to integrate into a new environment and become a positive contributor to American society and the American way of life.

My experience with this host family in America has made me a person eager to learn, confident, and strong in my opinions yet open to listening to those of others. I am appreciative of my environment in this country and find myself even more keen today to stay in America to learn and contribute in a positive way than I was before I came here. I feel comfortable talking to people around me now and have the ability to absorb the goodness of the American culture while offering wisdom of my own.

I genuinely believe that my experiences in America would help me a lot in my pursuit of .................., and if given an opportunity, I would do my best and surely succeed in my endeavor. I feel like a part of the host family as if it were my own and would love to be an active learner and contributor in the huge spread-out family that is America. Read More