Because of the environment I grew up in, I find that adapting to new things and experiences comes more naturally for me. This ranges from being open to trying different foods to learning different cultural dances, like Hawaiian hula or Japanese obon dance. Since I love the islands so much, I didn't think that leaving home for college would be very appealing to me. I decided to enroll at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
When I first started college, I initially did not have a lot of interest in studying a language. This was mainly because I already knew some Chinese from speaking a dialect at home with my parents. I mainly focused on my first major which is computer science. It was not until the end of my sophomore year that I started really considering how learning Mandarin Chinese would impact my future career goals. Luckily enough, my university has a program called the Chinese Flagship and the coordinator came one day to present in my Chinese class. I really liked the goals that the Flagship had of creating global professionals and bringing our language abilities up to a professional and academic level. Through the program, I had the opportunity to study abroad during the summer in Taiwan and Beijing for language programs. I did not even consider studying abroad before because computer science did not pair up well with study abroad programs. Now, I always look forward to new adventures. Taiwan and Beijing have left a lasting impression on me, as I have been able to reconnect with my home culture on a level that I did not dream of before. Although I miss the small islands I grew up on, leaving home with the larger goal of achieving fluency in a different language has made this a very exciting journey.
