Despite the fact that out-of-state tuition continues to rise, foreign students still flock to the United States to pursue higher education. In the last few years, N.C. State has witnessed the number of international students keeping the pace of tuition spiral trend. Chinese students make up the second-largest international student group at N.C. State. There have long been stereotypes that Chinese students are reserved, too shy to address their opinions in class, less willing to speak English in public and are isolated from other international students and Americans.
There is no doubt that these stereotypes have some truth, but many Chinese students who study in the U.S. are becoming more engaged and active in learning the culture of both the American classroom and society. Sarah Cummings, who moved from Beijing to Morehead City when she was 16, is now looking to earn her master’s in statistics at N.C. State. As an immigrant, she thinks that it’s crucial for Chinese students to quickly adapt the campus academic environment and culture in order to be successful.
Cummings said that she had enormous challenges during her first two years and worked hard to change her mindset to adapt to the new world. But sometimes she still felt isolated and insecure because Morehead City is not a very diverse town. Driven from that experience, she decided to initiate a series of workshops that reach out Chinese students who are eager to dig into the American society.
After drumming up support from her family and friends, Cummings and her colleagues arranged Chinese Students & Scholars Campus Life Upward Boot Camp, a workshop aimed at promoting the understanding of America’s campus culture and society from the perspective of a Chinese student. “The main difficulty that most Chinese students face is critical thinking,” Cummings said. “What we want the new incoming Chinese students to know is how to develop the ability to think, to form your own opinion and to speak out with assertiveness.”
In many countries in East Asia, the hierarchical culture seems to determine that students are not encouraged to challenge what their teachers say. They are asked to honor their teachers in a way that Americans usually do not. In America’s academic realm, professors are guides who shed light on students’ interest and inspire them to think critically and independently. But that doesn’t mean professors are perfect or immune to making errors. In the U.S., professors appreciate when students challenge them. But in China, teachers are perceived as well-educated and as having absolute authority. This weakens students’ ability to think critically.
In the workshop on Friday, Sept. 13, speakers emphasized critical thinking. Cummings wants to see Chinese students seize their time here at N.C. State to develop this skill. “We want to address this issue from two angles,” Cummings said. “One is the real ability to think critically and independently. Another angle we want to approach is to provide them a channel and language skills to express their thoughts and opinions in a classroom discussion.”
Skills such as how to organize and prepare your thoughts before you speak up are necessary. Another American social norm that Chinese students need to learn is to respect the opinions of other students.
Beyond academic topics, the workshop prepared the students to adapt the southern social culture, manners and relationships. Some Chinese students are afraid of reaching out to Americans because they think Americans are likely to laugh at them because their English isn’t good. But in fact, confidence is the first step to get out of the comfort zone.
Cummings is optimistic about future workshops, which will be about a specific topic in depth. But she still thinks that what she and her team are doing is not pushing every Chinese student to accept American culture. Instead, she is trying to provide more useful information for those who have a curious heart and an adventurous mind for a new culture.
