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Zoe Truong

Ms Christy Chiu

ENG4UE

17 August 2021

Final Essay

“Nothing is better than going home to family and eating good food and relaxing” -

Irina Shayk. I never understood this quote until I went across the world, away from my

family. It all started when I came to Canada alone to study when I was 15. Living in a whole

different country, I had to grow up and be an adult to take care of myself. Therefore, If I did

not leave home, I would have never learned how much my parents have been loving and

protecting me all these years. Studying abroad is a long journey filled with various challenges

that everyone should be prepared for since there are obstacles such as culture shock,

homesickness and language barriers.

To begin with, culture shock is something that people need to pay attention to since it could

greatly affect the students’ mental health. It is a feeling of anxiety and overwhelm when

being far from one’s familiar place. Meeting new people, getting used to the neighborhood or

even sleeping on another bed are examples of culture shock. Over time, students could feel

left out and scared to open up since they are afraid that they are “different” from the rest. For

some, they may even experience depression as a result of feeling overwhelmed for a long
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time. Personally, I have known many people that refuse to adapt to the new culture, which

causes a lot of challenges in their daily lives, for example, no friends, difficulties in

communication, etc.

Another issue of studying abroad is the feeling of loneliness, which is inevitable if one

decides to live on their own. This is because moving out means teenagers have to take care of

every single thing that they have never done. Students will have to learn to do basic things

like: paying the bills, paying the rent, doing laundry, cooking, which in my case can be

intimidating for a 15-year-old. I vividly remember the first time I forgot to put detergent into

the washing machine, which resulted in me doing the whole laundry all over again. At first,

everything was foreign but I was lucky to have received help from a lot of people. However,

even though doing chores can become easier over time, the sense of loneliness does not.

After a long day studying or working, I usually come home with the lights off, it was all dark,

with no one around. It is when I begin to miss how my mom always has the food ready and

my dad’s loud footsteps. I also miss the sound of my sister playing piano peacefully and our

childish fights. There are also other moments where students need emotional support or just

simply a hug but it is also impossible since they are on their own now.

Last but not least, learning English is not a hard task, but for some people, actually speaking

it is another different story, which can be a difficult challenge. I have a friend who took many

ESL lessons and surprisingly did very well in most of them. However, she never believes in

her English skills and always has to ask others to express her opinions. She told me: “I’m

scared that I’ll make mistakes and everyone is going to make fun of me”. Clearly, she cannot

get over the fact that her English is not perfect and that she is going to make mistakes.
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However, if she never practices speaking, there are high chances that she will never be able to

boost her confidence and most importantly speak her mind. Over time, she barely uses her

own voice, which is a waste of money because according to her, her parents paid for her to

come to Canada to speak and use English. Therefore, if she is not taking advantage of her

chance, would her parents’ money be a huge waste?

In conclusion, the moral story is to show that apart from all the luxurious things like shopping

and taking good pictures, there are a variety of difficulties that international students have to

deal with when studying in a different country. Those problems could lead to real

consequences and are definitely something that people should worry about and mentally

prepare for the worst-case scenarios. Therefore, before hopping on a plan to get away, I

would advise all students to do careful research about the country that they are coming to,

mentally prepare to face loneliness and most importantly practice speaking and using English

comfortably.
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