The Challenges of Coping with a New Environment - Assignment Example

The Challenges of Coping with a New Environment Settling in a totally different place and studying in a totally different university require coping and a lot of hard work. It is exciting to be able to experience another place, people, and culture, but the coping that comes with it is really difficult. I have experienced these difficulties and I am still trying to cope with them until now. Hence, what I am about to narrate in this reflection paper is how a book entitled Never Give Up gave me a whole new perspective about my new situation. I was cleaning my new apartment, which is closer to my university, and I accidentally found the book, which my cousin gave to me three years ago. I really needed that book because it talks about how to effectively cope with a new environment and how to fight depression and anxiety when uncertain knocks. I will discuss two conflicts here. The first one is the feeling of un-belongingness, of being invisible. I am new to the place and the people and so my social network was exactly zero. The second conflict is the difficulty of living alone or being independent in an unfamiliar place. Of course, it is easy to be independent if you know the place and the people, but if not, I tell you now, it is fraught with challenges. When I came in this place I was both excited and worried. I feel excitement because I will be experiencing a totally new place and have the opportunity to get to know or get along with different people. I am worried, on the other hand, because being a freshman involves hard challenges and I am anxious whether I will be able to overcome them. And so, what I did at first was to research thoroughly about the place, the neighborhood, and the university. My first impression of the place was good. It is clean, rustic, and quiet. I love quiet places because I am fond of meditating. The people, as well, are friendly. But of course, there is still much work to be done to be familiar with them. Location was one of my priorities when deciding what university I will go to. And I believe I did not make a mistake of choosing this place. However, it is a different thing in my university. Making friends there is a lot more difficult than getting acquainted with my neighbors. I find it difficult to make friends with my classmates because I do not know how to communicate with them, or how to start a conversation. I do not know how people do it in college. And then, one day, I remembered about the book Never Give Up. It says there that people can by trying or difficult to deal with, but it is really all up to you how you will react to a difficult situation. And so, even though I was really nervous, I tried to approach some of my classmates. They were accommodating at first, but then they slowly lose interest in what I am saying because they have other things in mind, and, perhaps, because I am not a native speaker and they find it hard to understand what I am saying. My being a non-native speaker, I believe, is one of the major factors that hinder me from getting along with my classmates. Sometimes I feel insecure about my capability to speak in English. Sometimes I would rather shut up than be laughed at because of my language incompetence. I have read a research about this language and communication problem, and I found out that students like me normally feel being left out because of language barriers (Hui 55). But, then again, fortunately, I found people in my university who are really helpful. They helped me in my transition and my language problem. They became my friends and they now form my social network. I thought that if I gave up at the first sign of defeat I would not have made it this far. Now, I have good friends and they are really sincere in helping me cope with the new environment. I have met other students like me who have difficulties with language and communication and who find it difficult to socialize. We worked together and used our similarities, as well as differences, to overcome our challenges. It is a fun ride thus far. The second conflict is being independent in an unfamiliar environment. Of course, it would be a lot easier if I have my parents with me to prepare my breakfast, do my laundry, clean my room, etc. A college student has to be independent. I had no choice but to become self-reliant. This transition period from dependence to independence is somewhat taking a toll on me. There are times I feel lonely because my family is out of reach. I have friends to talk with, but the love and understanding of our family is different. I miss my old life, a life that is free of worries and anxieties. Independence is accompanied by worries and anxieties, and I think I was not fully prepared for this. Before transferring to this place, I was overwhelmed with excitement that I kept aside an emotion that haunts me now. According to what I have read, students living in a new environment are often frightened of being independent, because they are uncertain whether they can cope with it or not (Isibor 23). Well, it gives me comfort knowing that what I am feeling right now is normal. Whatever the challenges that I will face in the future, I am confident that I will overcome them. As what my favorite book said, never give up. And I am not planning to give up. Being a freshman is an important part of one’s life and I will be making the most out of it by surpassing all negative thoughts and feelings, such as depression and anxiety. I will seize the day! Works Cited Hui, Yee Yan Rowena. International Student Preferences for Coping Strategies, Counseling Approaches and Counselor Characteristics. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest, 2007. Print. Isibor, Theresa. A Collective Case Study of Strengths, Challenges, and Contributions of International Students in a Large Urban Community College. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest, 2008. Print. Read More