Final-6(reflective)

I experienced a life where everything is done for me, it was almost like all I had to do was sleep, eat and go to school. It was due to my parents being really successful that they had brought 10 helpers at home which I became the most spoiled kid you could possible imagine. Then I started to think for myself, so I decided to go abroad and study. I then became a foreign student in La Sierra Academy which is located in the state of California. It was about 6 years ago when I started my high school years in United States. That was probably the most exciting experience I had so far and more like an adventure than learning in school. Now that I am back in the Philippines to study in a University, I realized all the important things i learned by staying and studying in United States. I had learned to be responsible, independent and adapt to things quickly.

Before I attended the La Sierra Academy, I was living by myself couple of months as such I had to do all the things myself. In all those time, I had to do all the house chores by myself which helped me experience things that I would not normally do. It was as tho that I regretted deciding to study abroad however that was only a temporarily regret since I begun to get used to it. The spoiled kid that I was once, now have become a normal human being. This was a huge joy for me since I get to actually do things for myself and I feel like I could do everything from then on without the help of others. This made me become a independent person in which will help me in days to come. Since I had returned to Philippines, I now do all my chores by myself without the need of others in which made my parents proud more than I even expected. Independence can not be learned in lectures however it is learned through experience.

My parents had tasked me to take care of my financial needs and paying the bills on time. I never had experience or learned how to take care of financial belongings in the first place and was never even tasked for paying the bills, it was the first time for me. Staying in United States gave me all these responsibilities that I would not normally have. There was times where I had paid the bills late in which causing delay fee to occur where I had to recalculate my budget every time I make a mistake. This had me learned how to be responsible at all times since if I was not for a day, then it would then immediately become a severe problem.

When I first started attending school in La Sierra Academy, everything about what I normally would feel in a school was different. The way they teach, examine and approach students were entirely different in every way. This may be a challenge, however I see it as a opportunity to learn and adapt to the situation. If there is ever a situation in the future where I have to adapt on things, I would be able to do something about it quicker than before. Adapting to change is a necessity for us to prosper in the upcoming days of our lives. Being back in the Philippines to study in college, the experiences that I had back in La Sierra Academy has made me adapt to college education much faster than my peers. Putting me in a big advantage over other students and has a lot less stressful for me.

Traveling and studying in a foreign land will always have greater benefits than staying in one place the whole time. It was one time that I travelled and studied abroad however the skills that I learned could lasts a lifetime. I would have never imagined myself becoming a whole new person after the experiences I had while staying in the United States. If I had another opportunity to learn in a different country, I would be surely be taking that opportunity as my advantage in which my dream of making my parents proud will become true before their passing.