Yana Nadelyaeva
So, what can I start with? I am a foreign student and I arrived from a very far-away country, Russia, just a week ago. After a 10-hour transatlantic flight, arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport, finally I found myself on a true American college campus- LIU-Post.
To begin with, how did I get this idea and this goal to study in a foreign country? I spent last summer in New York City. To say that from the very first day this awesome city made a great impression on me- means to say nothing! I really adored it!!! At some moment during that amazing summer, I surely decided that I had to come back, not as a tourist anymore, but as a serious student at a good college. I did my best to reach my goal! It cost me a lot of effort, difficulties and nerves, but finally I got it! My dream came true! I became a student of an outstanding university, LIU Post.
So what were my feelings when I got out of the taxi that cold and windy Sunday evening on the territory of the Post campus? It was a real mixture of excitement on one hand and nervousness on the other, joy and happiness, fear , and diffidence. It seemed to me that I was lost, but at the same time, somewhere inside me, I felt that I was finally in the right place!
Monday morning. Being terribly worried, I left my dormitory room to start my first day of college. With one look at the map, I became slightly shocked! How will I be able to find the right place in such a big territory with great amount of buildings? Names of the blocks, its numbers, paths and directions–all poured together! One deep breath- calm down! Couple of seconds…one more deep breath- come on! I have to do it! So- let’s do it!
It was a long and difficult day–checking in, orientation, talking with an academic adviser, choosing the classes, registering in- one strong attempt to understand- what’s going on! It’s not like in Russian University life; it is an absolutely different process!
I coped with all these steps and finally I did it! The thing that I was most impressed with was the friendliness of everybody! You see the smiling faces and you aren’t afraid to ask where to go, what to do or just say, “Could you please help me?”
I know it is only the first day and everything is just starting and a lot of classes, hard work, and difficult assignments are waiting for me. But I am not scared or worried anymore. Fortunately, from the first school day, I got a very important thing: everybody is so friendly and eager to help. Just don’t be shy to ask for help if you need and you’ll get it with a warm smile. Good luck to everybody!
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