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Students of our school, CSIA, including myself, have changed a lot from how they were before at the English Camp. I started wondering why this has happened and I am feeling more and more curious about this issue. I am one of those people who actually enjoy challenges and changes a lot, and I��ve had a lot of experiences going through a lot of troubles and slumps. Since I have gone through a lot of changes in environment, physical appearance, and in character, I could consider the word ��change�� as an innovation.
Of all students in this new school, most of them have been abroad at least for few months, and I am one of those people. I was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and came to Seoul when I was seven. I went to a Korean elementary school but I moved back to Atlanta for middle and high school. During my middle and high school year, I flew to Korea and America back and forth, and this has given me a hard time getting used to the new environment every time. When I first got there I was so frustrated that I could not even say a word in any of my classes. As time past by, however, I learned a lot of new vocabulary and language devices, and innovated the new culture to my life.
Although I was born in the United States and was officially an American, I��ve had a lot of trouble getting used to the new place. Since I could not speak the new language or adapt to the American culture, I had a very tough time making friends. Every day and night I tried to find out the reason why I was not getting along with others. As time passed by, I realized that I was the only girl who was wearing baggy jeans with nerdy clothes. I finally noticed that because of my physical appearance, I was one of those people who gets picked last when playing games. Later, I went shopping for new clothes, re-done my hair, and starting wearing make-ups.
I also noticed that I was being so quiet not talking to a single person, so I tried to start conversations with people in my class. I cannot deny that I was afraid of speaking English with foreigners, but I tried anyway. At first, most students ignored me because they could not even understand what I was saying because of my strange accent. When the school was over, I directly went home and practiced saying ��hey, what��s up?�� for couple of hours. The next day at school, in the hallway, I waved my hand to one of my classmates and said what I��ve been practicing the other night. She replied, smiling. How silly, but I was so excited about this, and starting practicing saying a longer sentence in English. I have done this for a few more months to improve my speaking and now that I think of it, it surely did. I could say that I have changed myself from being a non-talkative, shy girl from a very outgoing and an active one.
The dictionary definition of the word ��innovation�� is ��the act of introducing something new, or something newly introduced.�� The practice of me adapting to a totally new culture has innovated my life; in other words, my experience in America has introduced something new to me. Although I am still having troubles adjusting to the new surroundings in CSIA, I believe that I will go through physical and character changes well, like I did in the past, which will later make huge innovations in my life.
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