What I've Learned Helping International Students by Liam

What I've Learned Helping International Students by Liam - November 2019 Scholarship Essay

Throughout most of my public education I was not very outgoing. I didn’t participate in sports, clubs or even make that many friends. I saw my classmates, who were very concerned about getting into their favorite University, working themselves to exhaustion balancing school, sports, extracurriculars and community service. As the pragmatic person that I am; I took one look at their stressful lifestyle and did as little community service as possible. I had all my time to focus on doing AP classes and getting plenty of College Credit. I couldn’t understand their commitments to organizations like the ASB, to me it didn’t seem worthwhile.

My apathy with regard to academic achievement began to change when I began to hang out with international students. Students who moved very far away from home for a chance at a better life. For some reason I began to make friends with primarily these students. My best guess is that I was attracted to their cultural diversity and admired their bravery. To this day I’m not sure if I could leave, not just my family, but my whole culture behind in pursuit of the possibility of a better life. Additionally, they often have completely different and new perspectives on everything from history to modern society and current events, which makes for very fascinating conversation and helps broaden my own world view.

The one thing most of my international friends have in common is a tenuous grasp of the written (and sometimes spoken) English Language. They would often ask for my help in their English classes. “Liam, can I send you my essay?”, “Liam, I need help on my essay?” are pretty common requests I hear from them. The first time I helped one of my friends with their writing we worked from 3 P.M. until 6 P.M. It was hard work; but it felt rewarding, especially when I saw how my advice and guidance has helped them achieve one of the highest grades in the class.

After I helped this first person I found out that I quite enjoyed helping and coaching people on English essay writing. Every time one of my friends has an essay due in their class they would brainstorm some ideas for a thesis and run it past me. Then I would help them construct a rough outline. They would write a first draft and I would look again and fix all manners of issues ranging from basic grammar to major structural issues. One time, one of their essays was so uncoordinated that we needed to start from scratch, so I sat there with him and helped him rewrite his whole paper. I even branched out a little and helped some other people with subjects like math.

All of this happened quite suddenly and naturally. I never made a conscious effort to help them with their essays, it just sort of happened. And although this may not be comparable to volunteering everyday, as I saw some of my classmates do. I like to think that, in what to me would be a new and scary environment, I was able to make their lives easier by introducing them to the culture while relieving some of the academic stress related to learning a new language. Having someone reliable to go to when I feel lost or confused, especially if I’m alone in a brand new place, is an immeasurable comfort. And if I have made any of my international friends feel more at home here, then I am happy.