前途在路上之美国站：留学生坦言赴美留学背后-新东方前途出国

    　　文/萧明颢

    　　Day 1: Sunday, September 1, 2013

    　　We are ready, we’re excited, we are ‘Vision on the Way’…and we’re finally here!!!

    　　Days Completed: 1

    　　Days Left: 29

    　　Current Locations: Beijing, China/San Francisco, CA, USA

    　　With the second leg of the Vision Overseas’ “Vision on the Way” kicking off in the US today, it’s hard to believe that we are finally starting this exciting campaign after so many months of brainstorming, discussion, and planning. To kickoff the journey, a team of eight leaders and counselors from Beijing New Oriental Vision Overseas (北京新东方前途出国) left Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) on September 1 at 12:00pm and arrived in the San Francisco International (SFO) on September 1 at 9:00am. How about that for time travel?

    　　During the flight from Beijing to San Francisco, I had the good fortune to sit next to Xiaolang, a young man from Zhengzhou. Xiaolang was on his way to the US to return for his second year as an undergraduate Economics major at Colorado College, a very strong liberal arts college (LAC) in Colorado Springs, Colorado*. I asked him how he had decided where to go, especially as he applied to a mix of large public universities and smaller private colleges. Xiaolong shared that he arrived at the decision, largely because he wanted to go to a school that was smaller, and that would provide support. At Colorado, he told me, the largest class size is 30. This is quite extraordinary, especially as many students in their first year are sitting in lecture classes well over 5 times that size. Also, because the number of Chinese students is low (Xialang estimated about 23 Chinese students out of a student population at Colorado College of about 2,500), he had many opportunities to interact with non-Chinese students, and to learn more deeply about American/Western culture. While Xiaolang is young, his maturity and depth of communication is evident; I wonder how much is attributed to his experience of studying abroad, particularly in the environment he has at Colorado College. It’s an exciting time for him and to many Chinese students who have chosen to take a similar path of pursuing higher education in a context and environment often quite different from their own culture and native country.

    　　In the coming days and weeks, I and my colleagues will be sharing our travels to school visits, talks with students, faculty, and university staff, and our daily encounters with American culture and life via Weibo, Weixin, and other Internet platforms. My point of view will mainly be from the perspective as an ABC – a Chinese-American born and bred - who now lives and works in Beijing. While many Chinese students dare to dream of and achieve a life abroad in the US; over 15 years ago, I dreamed of moving and working in China. Now, I am happy that I am able to combine my ‘lives’ to share with students and families in China.

    　　For more information, please visit: https://liuxue.xdf.cn/special/event/on_the_way_USA/

    　　We hope that we will excite you even more these coming weeks to pursue and to chase your dreams!

    　　*#28 Liberal Arts Colleges (2013 U.S. News & World Report Ranking)

    　　更多精彩内容敬请关注前途在路上美国站：https://liuxue.xdf.cn/special/event/on_the_way_USA/

    　　更多精彩有奖互动敬请关注：新浪微博@新东方前途出国留学、腾讯微博@新东方前途出国留学、微信新东方前途出国。

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