留學生 (Study Abroad): Just Do It!

           你好！Have you ever wondered what it would be like to spend a summer or even an entire semester studying abroad in some exotic, exciting location overseas? If so, did you ever think that you wouldn’t have the time or the finances to make this dream a reality? If these thoughts have ever crossed your mind, I’m here to tell you that the University of Florida and the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences can help you in any of your study abroad aspirations! Not only does studying abroad look amazing on a professional resume, but the amount that you learn about yourself on a personal basis is astounding as well.

            This past summer, I had the opportunity of a lifetime to spend a full two and a half months studying abroad in Chengdu, China. In this particular program, sponsored directly by the University of Florida, I had the chance to study the Chinese language and culture in China. I traveled with around twenty other UF undergraduate students to China, where we stayed and took classes at a local Chinese university in Chengdu. While studying Chinese was the primary reason for our trip abroad, we were also able to do extensive traveling all throughout Sichuan Province in central China. We visited the original home and habitat of the Chinese Giant Pandas, climbed a four thousand foot mountain where the ancient Chinese religion of Taoism was founded, white water rafted through the Chinese countryside, and explored the city of Chengdu and its extensive night life. The experiences that I had on this trip are invaluable, and are ones that I will never forget in my lifetime.

            By spending a summer studying abroad, I learned so much about myself that I never knew before! First of all, this was the furthest away from home that I had ever been by myself for an extended period of time. I was able to independently live on my own in a country whose culture was completely different from that of my own. Also, I was forced to communicate everyday with the locals in a foreign tongue, so my personal communicational skills have skyrocketed as a result. Every day, I would need to use Chinese in order to eat at local restaurants, navigate public transportation, and shop at the local markets. Also, I learned that the world is a huge place worth exploring, and there are so many truly amazing people out there to meet! Due to studying abroad, I have met and made friends with other college students from China, Chile, Italy, England, and Nigeria, so I feel that my global social network has been largely expanded as a result.

            All in all, studying abroad has been the greatest experience that I have had in my college career at the University of Florida. It is something that I feel that every college student should take advantage of while they are still young and somewhat carefree.

If you have any questions about studying abroad, please feel free to contact me at amidgett@ufl.edu.

祝好,

Adam K. Midgett （米艾登）

動物科學專業