Today marks the last class that I attended at Elon. 14 weeks of school, countless lessons and an entire semester worth of experience in my pocket. In retrospect, I think this would actually be my best semester in all my college life, academically and experientially. For once I have tidied up my portfolio, and realized how much I have amassed over the past three years, both in NS and in college. The semester here at Elon also added significantly to that file of works, and I’m pretty thankful for it.
The classes have been, to say the least, wonderful. I enjoy the small class sizes, and being an exchange students I admit sometimes I get unwarranted attention. Media Law has given me a crash course on the legislative mechanism of US, and in turn, led me to reflect upon the system in Singapore as well. The research I did on NPPA led me to both marvel at the shrewdness of our leaders, as well as disappointment in the tightened noose over foreign media in Singapore. Copywriting didn’t teach me much in terms of head knowledge, but the rigourous coursework and excellent reviews by the instructor has pushed me to be more efficient, and to demand a higher quality of work from myself. Editing and Design has sensitised me greatly to the mechanics of the English language, correcting my grammar once and for all, something that I neglected since time immemorial. The design module within has also allowed me unleash the creativity juices in me for newspaper layouts (something which I always wanted to do), and also landed me a chance to help out in the layout section of the campus newspaper in the past three weeks. My parting gift for The Pendulum was the Sports back-cover, which I worked on for three hours last night. Working for them, albeit for such a short period, was one of the highlights of my stay here at Elon.
I griped about the lack of amenities here at Elon, and being a college town, it is pretty much dead and lifeless. Weekends were horrible. Without a car, I’m pretty much stuck on campus, with the library and the coffee shop as my only solace in making the most horrible 48 hours of my life pass as quickly as possible. I actually adored homework, so that time will miraculously tick faster, and the library was actually a desirable place to me in. The bonus in that was that I could bring in food and drinks, so I spent many a days inside reading magazines (they’ve got a pretty good selection from Times to Popular Photography to People) and newspapers while having a cup of Starbucks and breadsticks.
The odd weekend I’d go over to my mom. Not that I am actually dying to get there all the time, but getting out of campus and getting a little break away from my horrible room is actually therapeutic for me. Also, it also means decent home-cooked meals for me, which adds on to the lure of making the half-hour trips and shameless begging for rides to get over.
I still gripe about the lack of facilities and amenities and access off-campus from Elon. Compared to some other colleges, Elon’s in a pretty bad location, and I resent that. And there’s only so many favours you can get from your American friends, especially when fuel prices are rocketing through the roof.
Nevertheless Elon is probably still one of the most beautiful campus I’ve seen. The pretty front lawn where I sunbathed, the little yard in front of McEwen where I used to have my lunches of Tyson chicken strips on, the magnificent Belk Library, the new Colonnades dining hall, Moseley Center and many many more. There’s just too many things on campus that’s so pleasing to the eye, and it never fails to brighten up my day on a good and sunny day.
I am definitely going to miss this place, one month, one year or even three years down the road. Of course even if i have the chance to return to Elon for a visit, the experience would be different. It’s one thing to be here as a student, and that’s because of the people. Being a minority here, an international one to boot, is really an experience that everyone should take. The international community here is actually pretty marvellous, it forced me to open up my ears and eyes, and to be more culturally aware and accepting of those who doesn’t boast English as their native language. Just today as I was talking to some fellow exchange students, I was amazed at how fluent their English has become. There was even a tinge of American accent, which affirmed the assimilation process that they underwent during our stint over here at Elon. For one, I think that the acquirement of an accent essentially signifies a willingness to be culturally relevant. Not that we lose our native accent (even if we speak the language as a native speaker), but being communicators it pays to be relevant and adaptable in cultures and environments that are foreign to us.
Being at Elon wasn’t all highs and no lows. In fact, it was pretty trying when I first got here, and being overwhelmed by language. Not being an avid listener, the accents that the locals possessed became a key issue for me. I had problems understand most of them – it’s better now, but i’m still having trouble with some – and ended up tuning off. And when I speak, sometimes they don’t understand what I’m talking about. It’s the same language, just different expressions and pronunciations brought about a gap that I had problems bridging. Slowly, I find myself trying ways and means to adapt: using an accent familiar to them, adopting certain greeting styles and phrases, speaking slower and even resorting to speaking less.
Coming to Elon has made me painfully aware of my Asian identity and taught me to embrace my identity as a Chinese, an Asian, a Singaporean. I enjoy my friendly banters in Singlish with WS and the Mandarin chats over dinner with Joy. I even enjoy the few conversations I have with my mom whenever I go over to her place. In fact, at times they have become my solace for a reminiscence of home whenever I feel overwhelmed by the foreignness of this land. I was momentarily happy that day in NYC when ZL and I met up with ZL’s teacher. It was familiar sight and sounds to me, albeit it seemed like being in an invisible Singaporean bubble that floated throughout NYC that day.
I learnt to appreciate Chinese, and come to realize that there are some things that are still better left expressed in Chinese. And I appreciate the kind of education background where language is concerned: that I am sufficiently fluent in both English and Chinese to appreciate it’s strengths and nuances, and respect it as mutually exclusive languages.
My stay here at Elon will be something that I will never regret. Much as there are individual incidents that will lead me to conclude this Phoenix experience as a ‘regrettable’ one, but as a big picture, there’s much more to give thanks for than to regret. It may be a chance that I have paid for with money (for my room and board and other expenses), but it’s certainly an experience that money cannot buy if I have missed it right from the beginning. This Elon experience has taught me the art of adopting the right perspective, and that in all circumstances there’s always opposing viewpoints, but God has intended everything the way it is for this life. I give thanks for the IV fellowship as well, even though I have been with them for less than six weeks for now, and today marked the last Primetime that I spent with them. There has been some amazing sessions I had with them, and again through a foreigner’s perspective, I saw how the same God manifest himself the same way through a culturally different group. The style of expression may be different, but the love it exudes definitely remains the same. The kind of hope they possess, the love for fellowship and for God can be seen through the nature of those people, and it is something that I come to understand and appreciate as well.
I will be going home in 31 days, and I am looking forward to it. And when I finally get home, it is going to be an all new experience again for me. What holds for me? I don’t know, but I do know who holds it.
