Growing up in Beijing, capital of China, I have enjoyed the rich history and ample resources provided by this city and by my family. It is not a tradition in my family to belong to any faith community so I am rather unfamiliar with different beliefs. But this also means I will equally respect other humane religions. I was raised to believe that gender has little effect on people’s ability and ambition. So even though I am a girl, my family respects me and gives me much freedom and support to define myself. Beijing is such a city that welcomes anyone with dream and motivation to come here and seek for better living condition. So I have grown up with friends from different backgrounds with me. I wish to explore and experience different cultures, different life styles, and even different ways of thinking. That is the reason why I decided to study abroad. I am also grateful that my middle-class family provides me with good opportunities of living and education.
Being away from home and parental care has taught me more lessons than I would have ever learnt if I stayed at my hometown. I adapted to new environment, new country and new culture without all my old friends and familiar things. I learnt how to reconcile with new perspectives and new ways of thinking; how to get along with friends from all over the world; how to take care of myself and support each other in the meanwhile. I feel that I am surrounded by many generous friends who treat the world around them with love and warmth, and I would also love to give back the love to more and more people. During high school I went to Bali, Indonesia as a volunteer to teach the kids there English and Math. In college I eagerly participated in the Dream Project to mentor students at Rainier Beach High School and help them with problems
I think that my own personal lens has equipped me with the ability to be embracive and tolerant. These personalities will help me understand and communicate within our group and with reaching out to the refugees. I have sympathy towards them and am willing to work out a solution for their situations. Also I am open to new ideas, even though my perspectives may not fit in Trump's "American Dream" idea, I do not hold particular political stand against the existence of refugee problem in Germany. There have been an ongoing debate about people from other provinces coming to Beijing for shelters, job opportunities and other resources and whether the influx of these people has deprived Beijing's citizens' living condition. I think my attitude towards the current situation in Beijing can be reexamined and applied to the topic of this course by considering the context and situations in Berlin.
Being away from home and parental care has taught me more lessons than I would have ever learnt if I stayed at my hometown. I adapted to new environment, new country and new culture without all my old friends and familiar things. I learnt how to reconcile with new perspectives and new ways of thinking; how to get along with friends from all over the world; how to take care of myself and support each other in the meanwhile. I feel that I am surrounded by many generous friends who treat the world around them with love and warmth, and I would also love to give back the love to more and more people. During high school I went to Bali, Indonesia as a volunteer to teach the kids there English and Math. In college I eagerly participated in the Dream Project to mentor students at Rainier Beach High School and help them with problems
I think that my own personal lens has equipped me with the ability to be embracive and tolerant. These personalities will help me understand and communicate within our group and with reaching out to the refugees. I have sympathy towards them and am willing to work out a solution for their situations. Also I am open to new ideas, even though my perspectives may not fit in Trump's "American Dream" idea, I do not hold particular political stand against the existence of refugee problem in Germany. There have been an ongoing debate about people from other provinces coming to Beijing for shelters, job opportunities and other resources and whether the influx of these people has deprived Beijing's citizens' living condition. I think my attitude towards the current situation in Beijing can be reexamined and applied to the topic of this course by considering the context and situations in Berlin.