1, don't be unsociable or limit your social circle.
American universities are generally relatively large, and campus life is rich and colorful. Even local students who have just arrived at universities often feel timid, not to mention overseas students from China. Here, you will meet all kinds of opportunities, have richer resources and make many new friends, which will help you to increase your experience and broaden your horizons.
At this time, it is inevitable that some international students will prefer to stay in the dormitory and enjoy the speeding network speed without the "wall" restriction; There will also be some international students who choose to hang out in the circle of international students in their own country and limit their circle of friends. Such consequences not only limit their college experience, but also greatly weaken the advantages of studying in American universities.
The first advice we give is to get out of your comfort zone and communicate with as many different people as possible. You know, many people around you feel the same way. What you need to do is to start your "ice-breaking" journey immediately. Talk to people around you first, especially your roommate or classmates on the same floor. This is the quickest way. In addition, campus activities and student associations are good social groups. Don't live up to the great campus time and opportunities.
2. Deal with sensitive issues calmly.
Being in a foreign country, you will inevitably hear some different or negative news and remarks, especially when it comes to your own country. At this time, you will inevitably have resistance or anger. After all, that's where you were born. This has also become one of the reasons why some China students are unwilling to communicate with others.
Our suggestion is that, first of all, you need to make it clear that those opinions and remarks are directed at the government rather than individuals. Secondly, compared with students from other countries, American students are more open, cheerful and friendly. Being in such a multicultural campus environment is a good opportunity for us to eliminate the one-sidedness and subjectivity of the two cultures through mutual communication. Try to add the voice of an international student from China to your campus.
This happened on the campus of an American university. When the national flags of various countries were hung in the center of the campus, but the national flag of China was not seen, a foreign student from China spontaneously organized a petition. The following year, in the center of this campus, the national flag of China was planted.
3, familiar with the surrounding environment of the campus
In the United States, the economic status, social status and ethnic distribution of different communities are very different, especially ethnic distribution. This is a major feature of the American community. For a country like China with only one major race, this is hard to understand. Therefore, it is very likely that a small mistake you inadvertently made will put you in a very embarrassing or even bad situation. Even around some world-famous universities, there may be communities with high crime rates.
Therefore, when you are more familiar with the surrounding environment of the campus and avoid going to dangerous places, you will feel more secure and confident about campus life.
4. Make full use of the office hours of professors and teaching assistants, so that you can't go to the office in person to ask professors or teaching assistants to answer questions after class unless the schedules conflict; Otherwise, you have no reason to stop because of timidity or other reasons. The school has specially arranged office hours, and professors and graduate students provide answers for students visiting the office. Why don't you use this time to get on well with these professors?