Preparations for the final weeks of fall semester

Probably, the last 2 or 3 weeks at the end of the semester are both stressful and exciting moment in any college, stressful in that students are preparing for exams while the thought of the long holiday after that makes make them excited. Like no other, I am feeling the same combination of stress and excitement. No matter what, to be a successful student, one needs to be well-prepared. Now that the semester is nearly finished, there are some major assignments and some reviews to be done before I really can enjoy the after “end-of-the-semester chaos” moment.


Of course, there is a final portfolio for this ENG 101 class waited to be finished. There is not very much work to do, but I need to fill in more words and ideas to fulfill the word requirement for each blog posts as well as there are some mechanical problems I need to take care of before finally submit the final portfolio for evaluation. I plan to put up some pictures and make it more interesting. Moreover, I missed 2 blog posts, so I have to fill them in as well. I think it is not a really difficult task but I have to be careful and put effort in refining it as well.

Class presentation and research project assignment for ENG 490 class is one of my major concerns this semester. Just the fact that it accounts for 50% of my final grade already makes me nervous, not to mention the course’s demand for student’s critical and analytical thinking in the final exam. But no matter how hard it is, it is my favourite class; thus, I want to end it with glory. So I am now working hard on it, trying to grasp all the ideas and theories discussed in class and in students’ blogs. Hopefully, I am on the right track.

Now come to class that is outside my current major, ANTH 262. Preparation for this class exam requires lots of reading reviews and as part of my plan I am going to do it very soon. What is hard for me is to write a 6-page paper analyzing archaeological sites. It is a little bit challenging for me because some of the readings are not really technical and complex in its nature. I am working on it now; luckily there is no presentation accompanied the project, if not I would be in a very tight schedule.

Introduction to International Studies is probably my easiest class because there is not much workload and the level of difficulty is fine for me. Of course, given to the nature of this class with lots presentation of fact and information, there are a vast amount of information I need to study and remember in order to do well in the exam. Since it is not so difficult, this presents little challenge for me, fortunately. However, what I really need to work on is the upcoming class debate. It is difficult due to the fact that I am not a native speaker of the language itself, and I am not really good at debating, that is presenting with viewpoints, arguments, and examples, such and such. It is not talent. Still, I have to do it well. So what I am doing now is to be well-prepared for that debate by reading and planning my speech/argument.

After all the assignments and presentations finished, it is time to think about exam preparation. Fortunately, I only have to take two exams so the workload would not be that bad, hopefully. Actually, I think those exams will not be very difficult if I read and prepare well. They are not memory-based question and consist merely of multiple choice questions. Compared to the dreadful exams back home, I feel better here.

A tiring semester must be ended with a happy cherish moment. But how can I get that? I think I have to try my best in the exam, so that I will be able enjoy the last moment without fear of failing. Moreover, we the international students are going to have a farewell party for those who are leaving home after the fall semester. It is sad to say goodbye but it is a must to party. It is exactly how I hope my first semester at USI as well as in the States ends. But like it is generally well said “no pain, no gain”, to have fun I have to sacrifice my energy, trying to work hard for all the classes.

My friends in America

The definition of friend varies from context to context, country to country. In my country, friend is someone who is closed to me, who spend lots of time with me, who accompany me everywhere, and vice versa. In American context, however, anyone can be called friend. The American is quite easy in making friendship, but the relationship between the acquaintances is not closed. Having been told about this upon my arrival, I was little bit scared, scared that I would be lonely because I usually had friends beside me in my country while I totally by myself here. In fact, I think I am very lucky to have formed friendship with three wonderful girls, a Mongolian, a Mexican and an American, 2 of which are my suite-mates. There are several activities that we do together every day and week.

On normal weekdays, all of us would plan our mealtime together. Though we cannot always group together, the four of us, because of different class schedule, none of us ever eat lunch or dinner alone. It is funny that right after lunch, one would ask “So when is dinner?” Then another would joke that “How come? We just finish lunch, now you already think about dinner?”

Similarly, we do our self-study together even if we are not doing the same classes. After lunch, some of us would go to the library and do homework together until the appointed mealtime in the evening. Given to our talkative nature, we always try to find a study room so as not to bother other students, or rather so that we can talk. After dinner, we would go back to our dorm, chat a little bit, and start doing our homework again. The girl who lives across the hall would bring all her study material to our common room and then study time begins. It is good to study together like this, but sometimes we find ourselves talking more than studying. Nevertheless, we can be very serious in our study when any of us has test or quiz the next day.

In addition, we have what we called “addiction time” some time during our study time in the evening. It is done when we want to take a break from our study. Each of us has our own favourite snack, 2 of us like cigarettes, the American girl like peanut butter, and I like coke. They are our addictions, but we do not have them in our common room because the two girls have to smoke outside. So we have our regular place which we called “the smoker’s club” because it is where all smokers in our dorm spend time with their cigarettes. Once in a while, I call it “creeper’s club” for their lots of creepy people hanging out there.

Furthermore, when all of us are free from study, usually at the weekend, we have our family time. We call it “family time” because we view our group as a family rather than just normal friend. This is when we, the family members, spend time hanging out in our common room, chatting. Other international friends who know us say we are one of the most talkative people they have ever met. Yes, they are right. We can talk for hours on endless time. But there are also times when we just group together and have “Ramen noodle party”. Occasionally, one of us would try to find a good movie from the library to watch together for our family time.

Last but not least, we like to go off campus at the weekend. Almost every weekend, we are invited to join some parties of other international students from Saudi Arabia or Europe. We talk, play games, and dance in those parties. One of my friends from Mexico would demonstrate her dancing talent from Latin America. She dances beautifully. If we do not go to any party, we like to go the movies in a stadium near campus or eat out in a Mexican or Japanese restaurant somewhere in Evansville.

People who know us comment on our strong bond of friendship in spite of our differences in nationalities and cultures. We are also proud of this bond. Sadly, two of us will have to go back home after this fall semester. It is sad but that’s life. At least, in the time being, we are trying our best to enjoy each other companion as much as possible.

What will I do in the future?

I am a planning type of person. I make plan for everything, from my daily activities to my annual goals. Facebook application “What will you be in the next 5 years” said I’d be just doing the same thing, isn’t it funny? But in fact I already have plan for myself. If according to what I have planned, in the next five year, I will be finishing my graduate study somewhere outside Cambodia, either in the United States, Australia, or somewhere in Europe.

By 2014, I hope to get a scholarship, preferably Fulbright Scholarship, for a graduate school. In fact, there are lots of scholarships available for students in Cambodia. Though competitive it might be, I believe I stand the chance, given to my academic performance and qualifications. I prefer Fulbright Scholarship because it is the most prestigious scholarship in my country, in probably in many other countries. Also, I want it because I want to come back to the United States again. Moreover, I will be graduating with a master degree in International Development. I choose this subject area because I hope to help develop my community, society and country. It is important that my country has human resource in development, so that she can rebuild and bring up herself to the international stage. Definitely, I am aspired to be part of it. Indeed, I was inspired by a professor of mine in my home university. He encouraged me to pursue my pursuit in life, that is to work to help others.

Then come to a question: what will I be after graduate school? What will I do in the next 10 years from now? Indeed, I will be working as a community developer, occasionally trekking somewhere in rural communities in my country. I hope to work in any international agency such as the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP), World Bank or United States Agency for International Development (USAID). I will be involving in large-scale operation across the country. I will have project of my own working in the field of education, to make education accessible to those living far from populated areas. I will be able to apply all the knowledge I learn from schools to my working field. I want to do it because I believe that it fits my personality. I like to travel, see different people and help others. At the same time, I do not want to spend most of my time away from my family. So I just want short-term missions outside my place.

A job in any of these agencies is financially benefited. What I mean is those who work for them cannot expect to be rich or receive huge sum of wages. Nevertheless, they do make a high standard living, at least in Cambodian society. Thus, finance will not be an issue for me if I am able to get a job from any of those organizations. I do not have the ambition to among the high-class people with lots of money and luxurious lifestyle, what I want is just a job that makes me satisfied and proud of myself. Plus, I want to travel to places where people not normally go. Thus, community developer sounds like a good job.

Actually, I have formed my own philosophy of good life. For me, a life that worth living is the one that involves outsiders of our family being happy along way with us. It might sound like a missionary work, trying to help other reach god, but in my case I want to help other reach the standard of living that the majority of people in my society consider as good and healthy. I have been raised in a middle-class family; however, in my country I have witnessed a lot of misfortunes happening to people in my society. I feel that as a patriot I should help them to reach the level I am now as well, to help them live like human as others.

A plan that is not yet active is still a plan. Now that I have a definite plan, I am trying to implement it into action. I am trying to build my qualifications as many as possible. As a result, in the next 5 years, I will be graduating with my desired area of expertise, and in the next 10 years, I will be somewhere in the working world trying to transform theories into fieldwork.

Changes I have made in my studying habits

Compared to my home university, professors here at USI give lots of workloads to student; as a result, I have to stay up late every night to complete the tasks, most of which are due on the next day because I am a procrastinating-type of person. Every week, I have around a hundred pages of reading and at least two written essays. Moreover, I have to spend at least 5 hours a week tutoring at the Writing Center as part of my ENG 490 class’s fulfillment. I have never ever given this much workloads before, never before I came to USI. To comply with the changes of school work, I attended the Academic Skill’s Success Series Workshop to get some useful study tips. Eventually, I have devised my own plan of study strategies.

First, I start to use daily planner. Back home, it never occurred to me that daily planner was a useful tool to keep track of our study habits since I did not have lots of stuffs to record. At that time, I was so disorganized. I felt that I spent each of my days with no realistic goals and tasks. I rarely planned what tasks to be achieved that day. That was partly because I did not have lots homework back then, so I spent most of my outside-class time doing other stuffs like reading books, not textbooks, watching tv show, or listening to music. But here, I have to be very cautious with what I am doing; otherwise I would end up staying up late completing my homework, sometimes until 2 or 3 in the morning. Usually, my daily plan list exceeds the available space, so I have to stick in extra sheet. There are just too many things to do in a day. Thus, it is necessary that I use the daily planner to record my daily school work; otherwise, I would get side-track for sure.

In addition, in every class, I have to be very cautious and focused. Part of the reason is because English is not my first language and professors do talk fast since they are native speakers. Oftentimes, I find myself missing some information from the lectures no matter how attentive I am. In one particular class, which is mainly lectured-typed, which I am not so much used to, I always need to have coffee by my side during the whole class or I will pass out. Actually, the class is interesting but still do not know why I cannot stay awake in that class. When I was at my school in Cambodia, I did not usually pay that much attention; still I could do well in class. But it is not the case here at USI.

Furthermore, here I am pressured to read before class. I feel like I have to be well prepared before class if I want to succeed at USI. It is not the same in Cambodia. Then, though I did not usually do class reading, I was still be able to keep up with what my instructor was saying. Here if I just miss even one class reading, I feel like I am in the middle of nowhere, do not understand, at least to some extent, to topic being lectured or discussed in class.

Another similar change I have made to adapt student life here is writing. In some classes, I have to write a lot and only in limited time. Thus, I have to think and writer faster and much more than ever. I feel like a writing machine sometimes though. Writing is particularly difficult for ESL student like me. Usually, I cannot find the right words to express my ideas or that I could complete the number of essay requirement in the limited time because I could not write fast enough. In contrast, I can write up to 2 or 3 pages in just an hour if it is in my native language. Nevertheless, my writing is getting better and faster now, thanks to all the school work I have been given in class.

In a nutshell, after almost 3 months of studying at USI, I can see that my studying habit has changed tremendously. It is more organized and effective. I will bring this habit back home so as to better improve my study.

My future career path

Having grown up in a developing country like Cambodia, I cannot always choose any type of career like people here in America. In our country, there are certain needs for some types of skills and specialists that would help develop the country such as doctors, teachers, bankers, economists, engineers…, etc. Career in astronomy, for example, is out of the spot. Thus, my choice of future career is somehow shaped by social demand as well. Nevertheless, I love what I am doing in college; that is getting a degree in Teaching English, but my career choice extend beyond more that as an English teacher.

Few forces have driven me to my present major—TESOL. In Cambodia, especially in the city, it is important to learn English. Not that because it is part of the school curriculum but because the language would help in any future career one is pursuing. Understanding this, my mother always pushed me to learn the language since middle school, when I was quite a lazy student back then. However, my interest in the language started to form up when I was finally able to read books and listen to music in English. I would say my curiosity in learning about western cultures through books and music also partly inspired me to love English. I was fortunate enough to secure a scholarship at college that was well-known for its English teaching. That college was full of great professors whose English were fluent. Having them as my instructors, I aspired to be like them one day. It was not until then that I decided that I wanted to be an English professor so as to inspire others to love the language as I do.

Love as I may, Teaching English is not the type of work I want to do for the rest of my professional career. There is more I want to contribute to my country other than teaching English. Indeed, I love to work with rural poor communities in my country. I am aspired to help lift them out of poverty. That is why I also hope to work in the field of community development. It may sound unlikely that a student in Teaching English as a Foreign Languages like me would choose a career path in development. However, I believe that a community developer definitely needs the skills which, to some extent, relate to teaching because development’s worker needs to conduct training, research, evaluation…, etc. Plus, by working in the field of development, I hope to promote awareness of the importance of education as a powerful weapon in fighting against poverty in rural villages, where a large proportion of school-aged children do not have access to primary or secondary education.

Nonetheless, I know that I need more specialties other than English Education to make my career pursuit realistic. Hence, I plan to pursue in graduate school in a field of international development. It might be hard for an English major student to change her study course to development. But I am building my background in this field right now. I am now in an exchange program in the United States to learn more about American community; I am taking course in International Studies in addition to the ones in English major; in the upcoming spring semester, I am going to take class in communication as I believe it would help me when I directly work with the community.

People who have heard me talking about my professional plan might have thought that it is unrealistic because I am doing two things at a time—teaching English and working in community development. In fact, it is common in my country to do this especially when one of your works is teaching English. Once I complete my graduate study in development, I will work for an organization, hopefully the United Nation Development Program, in helping rebuilding Cambodia. I want to initiate program that benefit the poor, that help them rebuilding their lives. Additionally, I would also work as a part-time English professor like my instructors who have inspired me.

My Passion in Community Service

“I believe that a better and more peaceful world is not too far ahead of us, if each and every one of us stand up and fight for it. I also believe that we are like snowflakes, unique, and thus have a special gift that we can offer to our community, society, and country.” These are words of my favourite teacher. They are short and simple, yet they have a profound effect on me. Since then, I started to have interest in community service; that is to volunteer in helping the community. My passion is to help, in whatever might I have, rebuild communities and work to encourage other youth to follow suit. In fact, there were two organizations that I were involved with when I was still in Cambodia.


The first one, the Initiatives of Change Association, is an organization that helps to rebuild poor communities and to promote peace in the region. I participate in its monthly “Food Program” in which many youth volunteer to cook food for the poor. I also helped organize youth camping programs for the organization as well. Moreover, at the weekends or on holidays, I would meet with other friends to work on various existing projects in addition to our bi-weekly follow-up meeting at the organization. We try to exchange ideas on how to further improve our existing projects and what else we can do to help our community.

Furthermore, I see education as a tool to ignite personal growth and can be attained beyond classroom activities. Thus I spend lots of time working with some of my friends to initiate project to help promote education. The group is our own independent group, just a group of around 15 students who strive to help Cambodian society. Because of small number of people volunteer, each and every one of us has to sacrifice lots of our time when project is coming. So far, we had done with 3 projects in a period of 18 months. We collected books and distribute to children in a poor community; we brought around 50 teenagers to volunteer in a local orphanage organization; we initiated a workshop that aimed to provide high school graduate with necessary information about college and scholarship.

Actually, the two afore-mentioned organizations, though on voluntarily basis, has given me more than I have given them. Not only do they teach me many good skills such as communication, leadership, advocacy, but also guide me to form my own value of life. Also, it is because of these two amazing places that I have chances to experience many things and meet many wonderful people, from whom I find something special, from time to time. Without these experiences, I believe I would not be what I am today, a person with goals in life, a person, to some extent, has success in life.

Because of this passion, I have to sacrifice lots of my time, even when I was in college in Cambodia. The work, though voluntarily, involved a lot of meetings and commitment. On some weekends, my friends and I met from 8 in the morning until 8 at night to discuss and work on our projects. Nevertheless, it was the passion that was worth sacrificing for. It enriched my personal growth. It gave me challenges that strengthen my spirit to work harder and fight for what I believed the right thing to do. Now that I am studying in the States, I have to leave my team members in Cambodia. I heard they are doing very fine; nevertheless, I somehow miss doing that kind of work, though I receive no payment from it.

Looking back to all those time, I really appreciate everything the Initiatives of Change and own volunteer team has given me. They have changed me to be a better person, a person who cares for others. Now that I am away from those places I feel that I start to miss people over there already. I am definitely going to work with them once I get back to Cambodia.

Siem Reap: where to go and what to do?

Siem Reap, a city about 300km north of Phnom Penh, is the most popular tourist destination of Cambodia. The city is home to various local and world heritages. Each year, millions of tourists flood to this city to capture the sight of this more-than-a thousand-year-old Angkor city as well as today modern Siem Reap town.

Angkor was once the capital city of Khmer Empire in which civilization of Southeast Asia flourished. Tourists who bear interest in learning about ancient culture, tradition and architecture of Cambodia can visit many of the hundreds of archaeological sites. However, Angkor Wat and Bayon are a must if one happens to go to Siem Reap. Angkor Wat is the world heritage site with its construction dated back to the 12th century. Angkor Wat also has her own image in Cambodia's national flag. Bayon, a younger temple by few hundred years, is a center of wall-inscriptions about life during that era. Bayon Temple is also famous for her 54 Brahman-faced towers, which resembled the 54 territories of Khmer Empire at that time. Besides, tourists can also go to many other ancient temples such as Banteay Srey, Preah Khan, Ta Phrom, etc, each has her own uniqueness and beauty.

There is no exhaust of entertainment once the sun goes down. In the city, you can taste many types of cuisine, exotic, Asian, or western meals from our selections of hundred restaurants in the city. Moreover, clubbing is also a popular activity amongst tourists. Visitors can also just relax and enjoy drink from bars as well. A wide selection of alcohol is available and there is no age restriction, so even if you are under 21, you can also enjoy. Various shows that depict the culture and tradition of Angkor Empire are available in almost every major hotel and theatre. Tourists can enjoy dance performances, comedy shows, soap opera, etc.

If you are just tired of sightseeing and want to bring back some memories, shopping at Siem Reap night market is the best. There are lots of local hand-made products such as bags, clothes, jewelry, scarves, and many others. Tourists can also order sculpture made from wood, stone, or metal. In short, whatever you want, Siem Reap can provide you.

My favourite TV show from childhood

When I was a kid, I loved to watch television. There are many shows designed especially for kids only so as to deprive them from inappropriate “adult-show” as my mum put it. One of the TV shows that I particularly liked as a young child was “Smart Kid”. The show last around 60 minutes was divided into two sessions. In the first session, which lasted around 30 to 40 minutes, various cartoons were broadcasted. The show then proceeded to talk discuss about that cartoon in the second session. The aim of the show was to educate young children by using various model characters from the cartoons. True to its aim, there were three important lessons that I got from this TV show, each was main theme from different Disney movies.

First, I learnt from that show was to be positive which I learnt when watching A Little Princess. In fact, it was not a cartoon, yet it was one of my most favourite movies that broadcasted in that show. In whatever circumstance, Sara, the little girl, remained positive all the time, even when she was left alone, cold, hungry, etc. She was positive when she transformed from being a “princess” to a maid of that boarding school. After the movie finished, in the second session the host said such a good kid like Sara rarely existed in this world, but you kids could be the “real Sara”. Till now I don’t think I can be like her, but at least I try to remain positive as much as possible.

Also from the story “A Little Princess”, I learnt to be obedient, at least to some extent, from watching “A little Princess”. At first, I as a kid thought to myself that there was no such thing as obedience. Then, I was a stubborn little 10-year-old girl who just liked to go against her mum’s will. This movie taught me that if we were obedient, eventually there would be good thing happen to us and the devil would go away. Like the character Sarah, she obeyed the mistress of that boarding school, no matter how bad she was treated after the mistress found out about her father’s bankruptcy. As a result, other kids loved her and took her side. At the same time, we could be too obedient or people would try to get advantages from us, just like Cinderella. So we needed to learn when to be or not to be obedient.

In addition, I loved the adventurous spirit of Alice in Alice of Wonderland. When I was watching that movie, I told myself that I would be brave as her. I would try to be away from my mother some time and take the adventure. I remembered the host of the show saying it that Alice’s brave nature helped her scare the queen card. So when we were brave, the evil would be scared off. As a result, I tried to be as brave and adventurous as Alice, but there was time when my adventurous spirit was too strong that I ended up getting lost from my way back home from school. I am now happy because at some moment I think that I am now like Alice, living in this adventurous land of America.


This show was rated as one of the best in my country. It was good because it taught its young viewers many things. One might not realize that until he/she grow up and think by him/herself, just like me. After every cartoon show, there were always discussions about the good and bad things from each important character. Back then, I did not pay attention much to that after cartoon show but my mom always got me to watch it. Looking at myself now, I know that the show has shaped me as a strong individual in my community.