Tiffany Walker

So my trip to China is beginning to come to its close and while I’m so ready to go back home I really don’t want to leave. This is been one of the best experiences of my life. This trip has again helped me to realize how blessed I really am. There has not been a day gone by that I don’t take a moment and soak in the fact that I’ve been living in China for the past month. Taking a taxi into the city, the night view with all the beautiful advertisements all in Chinese characters, finding tons of foreign insects in my room at night, these are all constant reminders that I am here, living, breathing and being in Chongqing China. This place is so different from any other that I have visited. Every aspect from the food, the music, the style and the scenery is unique. I have been truly touched by the students here. They have worked so hard to make this trip as enjoyable as possible for us. They come to our every beck and call without hesitation or neglecting their own school work, I wonder how they do it. They constantly work hard in everything they do and barely get a moment to breathe. I’ve learned that everything is chosen for them, their major, their university of attendance, their careers and life, even the times they are allotted to shower.  They attend classes Sunday-Saturday from September until January and everyday they must abide by an 11pm curfew, including weekends.

Tell me how much different that is from our college experiences in the United States?  I could not imagine not having the freedom to choose my college, or major which in turn dictates the rest of my life. Every time I come across college students from different countries it sometimes seems they have it better, usually because the cost is extremely cheaper. But I have come to the realization that you can not put a price on choices. A girl I met here is studying automobile engineering. I know it sounds impressive but it’s sad to learn that she is stuck studying something else and it’s not her dream. She wants to study tourism or education. She said she always wanted to teach little children. That will probably never happen. I asked her does she like her major and she responded by saying “I learned to like it”.  I’m sure that her career in automobile engineering will be successful and lucrative but I’m not so sure she’ll enjoy it. I can’t imagine being at another university or studying something different. In the beginning of my college career I almost regretted my choice in school, but it was my choice and I could live with that. I changed my major mid-way through the first semester of freshman year, added a minor and then chose a second major. I shower when I want to, I choose what time of the day I have classes and if I don’t like something or don’t want to do it—I won’t. Nowhere else in the world do you have that freedom—and that’s something you can’t put a price tag on.