A Letter to Someone Like You

Being a student in a foreign country, especially one in which the dominant language is different from your native language, requires many difficult adjustments. Before you left your country to travel to the U.S., you probably had a lot of fears and anxieties about what to expect here.

Think back for a moment to the questions that were in your mind. Which questions do you wish you had had the answers to then? Which answers would have made you feel better then, and which would have made your transition into American life a little easier?In other words, what do you wish you had known before you left your country?

Now that you have successfully made the transition, imagine that you have the opportunity to write a letter to a student from your country who is about to make the same journey that you have made. What kinds of advice would you give this person? What would you say to reassure him/her, and what kinds of warnings would you provide?

In a letter, please tell this student what you think s/he needs to know about moving from your country to the U.S.