活動名稱：108年學海飛颺計畫-美國研修
國外實習國家/學校：美國/馬里蘭州霜堡州立大學
Origins
When I failed the high school entrance exam, I
wanted to pursue a career in college, and I chose National Union University
(NUU) as my future path because of the emphasis on the Dual Degree System,
which had been established with Frostburg State University only in the last ten
years. Although I learned from the department chair and many teachers that the
number of applicants for the Dual Degree program is not so many, and the
application information and application process are not that complete and
transparent, I always believe that when I complete a difficult task, the
achievement and experience I gain will make my life path much smoother, so I
have been actively pursuing the Dual Degree program during my two years at NUU.
The main reason for choosing the U.S. is that the U.S.
is known as a "melting pot of cultures," and there are many students
of different races, ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds in the U.S. This not
only allows me to quickly build up my social circle, but also allows me to
quickly grow my English language skills. It is worth mentioning that I have
been satisfied with the teaching style in foreign countries since I was a
child. Compared to the more serious classroom environment in Taiwan, the United
States places a lot of emphasis on student-student and student-teacher
interaction. Critical thinking is also said to be a weakness of Asian students,
but the teaching and learning practices in the U.S. place a lot of emphasis on
critical thinking, and the importance of speaking and interacting in class is clearly
stated in the syllabus of each class.
The choice of schools is also a big
deal, although at that time there were several schools in the National Union
University program, including even the world's top-ranked Purdue University.
However, after considering the cost, security, and teaching environment, I
finally chose Frostburg State University.
Frostburg
State University is also known as Frostburg State Normal School. It was founded
in 1898 and is located in Frostburg, Maryland, USA. Frostburg State University
is a public, comprehensive university with colleges of business, education, and
arts and sciences. It is ranked No. 124 in February 2013 and No. 2438 in
January 2013 in the U.S. by the Regional Universities of the North. Frostburg
State University was founded in 1898 and is located in Frostburg, Maryland,
USA. It is part of the University of Maryland system and is a four-year
university. In 1987, the college was renamed Frostburg State University. The College
of Business is accredited by the American Association of Business Colleges, the
College of Education is accredited by the American Council for Accreditation of
Teacher Education, and the University is accredited by the Higher Learning
Commission of the Central States. Frostburg State University awards Bachelor of
Arts and Science degrees, as well as Master's and Doctoral degrees.
In terms of housing, Frostburg State University offers 12 on-campus residence halls with single, double, and quad rooms available according to individual needs. Ten of these are older buildings, while Edgewood Commons and Brownsville are newer student housing. Most of the dormitories have shared bathrooms and common areas, while the newer dormitories have shared bathrooms for two students. The commute to class has its pros and cons. If students choose to live in a dorm closer to the academic building, they will be farther away from the academic building; on the other hand, if students choose to live in a dorm closer to the academic building, they will be farther away from the academic building. For example, I live in an older dorm near the dining hall. Although you have to share the bathroom with many people, you get to know the other roommates and RAs very well.
Frostburg State University makes it mandatory to purchase student meal plans if you live in the on-campus residence halls. Depending on the program, it provides an additional on-campus grant to help students purchase daily necessities in the on-campus supplies department. Roughly speaking, there are 10, 12, 14, and 20 meals per week, and the corresponding semester will provide $250-$500 as an on-campus grant. This gives students who are not used to eating school meals an alternative way to use their own meal plan.
The
semester allocation at Frostburg State University is basically the same as in
Taiwan. The special thing is that the summer and winter vacations are very long
and you can use them to take courses that you are interested in and include
them in your credit hours. I think the most interesting thing is that, compared
to the way we take classes in Taiwan, where there is only one time slot for a
semester, Frostburg State University offers a wide variety of choices, meaning
that a class may be offered in 4-5 different time slots for students to choose
from. For example, I personally prefer the afternoon session in terms of class
selection.
In my
case, I prefer the afternoon session in terms of class selection, and in terms
of class time, one class is one hour, and one week is three days of intensive
classes. The advantage is that you can concentrate on absorbing knowledge
during this hour, and some of the more difficult subjects can be built up
during this hour. On the contrary, the disadvantage of one hour of class is
very obvious, although you can concentrate on absorbing knowledge during this
hour, it is more difficult for subjects that require consistency and
calculation. For example, last semester I took a course in Managerial
Economics, which required a lot of calculations to verify the basic theories of
economics, but the one-hour period made the whole course more intense.
The biggest difference in teaching style is the interactivity of the class. If the subject does not require a lot of calculations, such as accounting, economics, and management accounting, most of the teachers are very active in interacting with the students. Whether it was open-ended questions, answering questions by name, or group and class discussions, the overall content of the class was more lively.
I think the most impressive thing is the group assignment. Most of the group assignments in Taiwan are based on the whole group to calculate the group's grade; on the contrary, in foreign countries, the accountability system or peer review is adopted and the final grade is calculated according to the individual performance of the group. This means that those who don't do anything will get a lower score in the final group evaluation, which not only allows those group members who fumble to get the punishment they deserve, but also makes other group members feel better.
At Frostburg State University, every student is required to go through a final semester Capstone course, which represents a significant portion of your senior thesis and presentation. In my own case, during my final semester of Capstone, we had to collaborate with the rest of the group to explore the current and future state of Delta Airlines. Because of this course, my group and I spent almost 30 hours a week in the library during the final semester discussing and writing papers, and we had to give two 30-minute presentations during the semester and two at the end of the semester to present your ideas and practical experiences. In the last week, our total number of pages went up to over 800!
In terms of learning styles and exams, American
schools tend to publish Study Guides one week before the exam to tell students
what are the key points that they need to prepare for and what are the bonus
questions that they will definitely be tested on, so for students,
familiarizing themselves with these Study Guides is the first key to getting
good grades. In addition, most computing courses allow students to bring three
sheets of A4 paper as their Cheat Notes, so that students can use these notes
to avoid reciting some of the more difficult formulas or question types, which
I think is a more humane point than in Taiwan, but this also creates a lot of
students to read the Study Guide in a short-term memory way only one to two
days before the exam.
Study Abroad - Life Learning (out-class)
After a 20-hour flight, the Center for International Student Department at Frostburg State University took us back to our corresponding dormitories and held a seven-day orientation and orientation session the next day. During these seven days, not only did the school allow international students to get to know each other better, but they also introduced the functions and opening hours of various departments, such as the basic library, CIE, the registrar's center, the health office, and even the more personal CAPS Trauma Center and the Counseling Center. I think this will quickly help us understand how to protect ourselves and get to know the campus.
For the campus activities, CIE organizes many
off-campus exhibitions and local festivals, and each office of the school also
organizes various activities for students to get to know each other. For
example, in mid-October, I participated in the International Exhibition
Festival organized by CIE. Although it took me about three hours to reach my
destination, it was worth the trip to enjoy the activities and customs of
different cultures!
However, because Frostburg State University is located in a rural area, transportation is not as convenient, so there are fewer opportunities to visit tourist attractions and big cities, such as the nearest Chinatown, which takes two hours to reach by car, or the nearest big city, which takes about three hours to reach. For example, I am a cat person, so I take the time to volunteer at the Allegany County Animal Shelter, which is 30 minutes away, during the holidays. Although it's not mandatory and I don't have to provide proof of hours or proof of volunteering, and I'm often scratched by cats or slapped by irrational adopters in the process, I think it not only strengthens my mental skills, but also allows me to become more familiar with the English language and to relax by doing something I enjoy after school.
Specific benefits of the study
In-Class：
l Refine your skills with a second foreign language
to increase your competitiveness in the future
l Experience the difference between Asian and
American classroom learning from your own perspective
l Increase your independence and learn to deal with
difficulties without relying on others
l Take non-specialized courses to enrich yourself in
your leisure time
l Learn about American culture
Out-Class：
l Get acquainted with students from different
regions and countries to expand your interpersonal relationship
l Improve your ability to speak up in difficult
situations, instead of waiting unilaterally for problems to be solved, you can
take the initiative.
l Improve your quality of life and develop a regular
routine
l Learn about the views and customs of different
students and expand your horizons
Thoughts and Suggestions
First of all, I would like to thank the Ministry
of Education for offering this program for me to study abroad, which has
greatly relieved the financial pressure on my family. In addition, I really
need to do a lot of preparation before studying abroad, from school application
forms to WES and visas, I need to keep an eye on the progress, which makes my
ability to handle things and multi-task much better than before. I also learned
that American administrative efficiency is much worse than Taiwan's, and often
you have to write multiple emails asking for progress or even pushing to
achieve results. After repeating this process for about two weeks, the school
continued to send the re-coded mail to my school email that I could not open.
In
addition, I think the most important thing to overcome is loneliness. It is
very likely that you will not be able to visit other cities because of the
Capstone course or the distance, plus the epidemic is not taken seriously
abroad and the mask policy is being lifted one by one. How to face and
effectively deal with loneliness must be the first psychological construction
that international students need to do!
I
think this study abroad has made me grow up a lot. From the time I arrived in
the U.S. to the time I returned to Taiwan, things happened, such as the airport
landing, not being able to catch a plane, filing taxes, etc. All of these
things made me realize that I am now staying in the U.S. by myself and I cannot
rely on my parents anymore. During this process, I realized that if you dare to
speak up, a lot of things can be solved! If you are always afraid of your
accent and don't speak English, these small things that could be handled easily
will be complicated and your accent will never get better! I think I can handle
some things on my own!
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