The biggest challenge that I have met in my life so far was the process of immigration that caused numerous problems for me, especially being a Chinese child. Even though I was only in middle school at the time when I moved to the United States, I realized that it was an important move that would transform my life completely. The presence of a language barrier scared me the most because I was not sure I could become able to talk to native speakers freely when I grew up. My poor language knowledge became the biggest dare for me because I had to defy my fears and work hard daily to understand what other people were saying. I felt like I did not belong to the place while I was not able to communicate similarly to those whose English was much better than mine. Ultimately, it motivated me to study harder and pay more attention to what my teachers and colleagues said.
I would not be able to learn something new without knowing English, so I managed to study the language by translating it into Chinese. I completed everything from class notes to homework in my native language and then translated it to memorize unknown English words. I had spent hours trying to study, and the hard work ultimately paid off when I lastly started recognizing the teachers’ speech on the fly without having to translate it to Chinese first. Being in college now, I am proud of myself for being able to overcome the language barrier challenge. I became a better version of myself now, and there is nothing more rewarding than the thought that I was the one who came to the United States from China and learned English.