How I Coped with Life Difficulties in a New Country

After getting an academic scholarship three years ago, I said to myself, Failure is not an option. This was a big opportunity for me to build my future by gaining an excellent education. I was confused and did not know wether I should study in my country or United States. It was a hard decision that requires a lot of research. I was scared to experience something new although it is exciting. I was suffering and could not sleep because of the deep thinking and being afraid. Being afraid to fail is a big obsticale that holds everyone back to learn or experience something, but it is important to take any opportunity and beat this obsticale to be succesful and creative. As it dawned on me, I started getting cold feet about the uncertainties of going to a foreign country, coupled with fear of the unknown.

I come from a country that has diverse cultures which practice different traditions. This will got me to experience a culture shock which will cause homesick and depression. Also, my native language was is not English, contrary to the national language of the new country which was English. This meant that I had to adapt to speaking a language that I was not very fluent in, again introducing the problem of language barrier and communication. Coming from a loving family, I had never before lived alone. This was by far one of my worst fears. Moving into the country, I had to stay alone since I was the only one who had received the scholarship. It took a toll on me especially during my early months of stay. It missed my family and friends back at home, wrecking me emotionally and mentally. With all these challenges at that point in my life, I found it very hard to adapt to the new environment I was in. That notwithstanding, the fear of failure, considering I was in the country for academic reasons, was another big challenge that I faced. I was always afraid of performing poorly in my studies, as this would ultimately mean that my scholarship is terminated and I would go back to my country have let my parents down.

Despite all these numerous challenges, I got myself together gradually and fitted right in. My first move was to research how to deal with anxiety related symptoms which were probably the reason for my panicking. It got me to realize that my experience and reactions were very normal for somebody who had just moved into a new country. I also talked to other students who were studying under scholarships and came from other countries. I shared with them how I felt, and the challenges I was going through and coincidentally, some of them had the same experience as I did. This gave me some closure, and I stopped feeling like I was left out. Many students came from different countries and socializing with them made me more comfortable as it became clearer that we were all having challenges. Other than that, the fact that I was getting a better education gave me the strength to persevere and put more effort into acquainting myself with my environment. A better education meant a brighter future for myself, and it was enough to get me motivated to see beyond my challenges. I was also getting a new experience which to me was a unique opportunity by itself. I got to meet new people who came from entirely different backgrounds, countries, cultures, and ethnicities and this gave me an entirely new perspective of the world. I got to appreciate the diversity that exists in the world and learned how to interact with different people. This was a significant turning point for me, and it went a long way in changing my attitude and perception of being in a foreign place.

As a resolution, I decided to learn new habits and blend in with the new culture. This would enable me to practice part of what was taught to me in my new school since socialization was often termed as a crucial part of adjusting to the system. The various cultures of the people that I interacted with were also a key component of my resolution strategy. I sought to be more open to the differences that existed between me and the rest of my environment and took this as a chance to understand what was going on around me. Developing myself by adjusting my routine to be in line with the new conditions came up as a good strategy for getting rid of the fears that I had. Since I was also living alone, I also learned to rely on myself since it offered me a chance to discover myself fully and understand my strengths and weaknesses and work on the latter. I also resulted in improving my socialization skills as human relations are essential in creating a comfortable stay in a foreign environment.

As a result, I made numerous new friends who have been of great help to me to date. Time management also became a critical skill as it enabled me to balance how I spent my time in studies and other duties. To prevent myself from becoming too much of an introvert, I allocated sufficient time to be doing activities with other people and engage with them, which included both academic and non-academic obligations. In the end, I achieved success in my endeavors and I have had an amicable stay ever since.