Describe a situation outside of school where you learned to be a better student by Anh

Describe a situation outside of school where you learned to be a better student by Anh - September 2015 Scholarship Essay

If I remained a shy girl in class and did not try to enter that trip three years ago, I could not be who I am now.
It was a normal mundane school day until I and my friends were notified that Japanese government had offered 15 full-bright scholarships to my school to go on a 10-day study field trip. Those who were elected would be the ambassadors representing my whole country, Vietnam, so it was very competitive. Some of friends quitted at the first place, some did not believe in the prize. “It must be some kind of advertisement”, they said. But I was curious, so I told my parents. Immediately, they urged me to participate in, told me to try my best and helped me prepare all the required documents. After a few days, I could be able to meet the deadline and I made it, as I was the only one in my school studying Japanese!
It was my first achievement ever – the scholarship to study environmental science and disasters in Japan. Although it lasted only 10 days, but it was so eye-opening that it changed most of my perspectives and conceptions, and that changed my entire life. I saw a lot of unbelievably amazing inventions, as long as met many professional powerful people in Japan. They taught us how to save energy, how to adjust lifestyle in order to live healthier, what to do if a disaster such as tsunami, fire, electrical accident, etc. happen, and so on. They toured us around the country to show us how Japanese people live modernly but still environmentally-friendly. “It comes from the mind”, they said. And I grew up, just in couples of days. It was not anything but because I started to think for other people, not only for myself. I started to wonder what I could do to contribute to the development of my family, my country, my Earth. I knew I have to do something. I wanted to showcase all of my friends what I had learnt. I wanted my friends to change and start to take actions, too. As long as I got back home, I decided to turn over the new leaf. As to fulfill my dream, I started to set goal and build up my resume and be a better student. I volunteered more not only in class, but also in extracurricular activities, such as having established a Japanese Culture Club, joined an entrepreneur camp, and afterward organized my school’s first prom. But those are my achievements after two years being through hardship. Nothing comes without price.
Another thing that I have realized after the trip is the power of communication and networking. With purpose of culture exchange, I had to work on a presentation with 14 other people including both Japanese and Vietnamese about the relationship between the two countries. We, the Vietnamese people, came from different regions such as Cao Bang, Hue, etc. Later on, we all became very good friends, and they support my project. But at the beginning, we did not get along well as we could merely understand each other. English would have been the best solution if our accents and pronunciation had not been so different that it became useless. It seemed to be a big problem until we found out a way to cope with the situation by typing on computer. With the help of technology, things got much easier and the project was accomplished smoothly and successfully. Another indication of miscommunication is the lack of my ability of expressing ideas. Apparently, the success of a project depends on how ideas are presented to the group. Sometimes when discussing, the words don’t match what I really mean to say. In other to prevent misunderstanding, I usually draw a mind map so as to organize my speech more logically and comprehensibly. All in all, it is possible to avoid confusing and misunderstanding by many ways such as practicing or making use of technology, which really help me express clearly my thoughts efficiently.
Had it not been for the trip to Japan, I could not be able to reach out for a new horizon and start to take those actions. That trip is certainly my turning point, because it gave me a desire to be big, to be recognized, to be better. “To better one life is to better the world” – Alan Shawn Feinstein. I learnt to believe in myself, that I can do whatever I want as long as I strive for it. From an ordinary girl born with no certain gifted, I finally found something that I can pride myself on and contribute to the society: be an event planner. I am, now, walking in the path that I could never imagine myself I would be in the past few years ago.
After two years, I finally fulfilled my dream: I am now studying Sport/ Entertainment/ Event Management in Johnson & Wales University. I know this is not the end, it is just the beginning. This is a milestone to me. I will try my best to seize any opportunity here, so five years later, I can look back and claim that going to this university is another turning point of my life.