The Learning Experience Of Chinese Students In American Universities: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

College Student Journal, March, 2001 by Guofang Wan

Discrimination

Y and F believed they were treated differently and unfriendly sometimes because they looked and spoke differently. They said that "90% of the blood and tear part of the history of immigration comes from the discrimination people have for people." They illustrated their points by two stories from their life.

   Y explained,

   "Once I went to buy some stamps. The postmaster asked me if I was from
   China. I told him I was. By the time when he gave me the change, instead of
   handing it to me or put it on the counter for me, he rolled it to me and it
   fell to the floor. I refused to pick it up. He had to give me another one."

   Y went on,

   "I was buying a supersaving ticket. I got into an argument with the shop
   assistant. He told me that I didn't make myself clear from the beginning
   what I want. He implied that I should have said one supersaving ticket for
   today. Instead of saying one supersaving ticket. Think about it. You are
   not allowed to buy last weeks', neither next weeks'. You can only buy
   today's. That is the rule. So I was not wrong at all. When he raised his
   voice, I raised my voice too. That drew the attention of others in the
   shop. I believe he was picking on me."

   F added, "Our look and faces are different. Our language is different. Plus
   we are not fluent in English. If you grow up in the U.S. and speak fluent
   English, they will treat you differently. Yes, no matter where you go,
   discrimination is unavoidable. Ninety percent of the blood and tears part
   of the history is caused by discrimination."

Disillusionment

Y and F also experienced disillusionment in the United States. Things were different than what they had expected. Financial problems, pressure from school work and not learning as much as they expected from school were some of the things that disillusioned them.

F has been trying to get into a Master's program. She was accepted by several universities but she had not been offered any graduate assistantships yet. As China is still a low-income country, their savings from China could never be enough to pay her tuition in the United States. With Y being a student, he could not support F either. There are grants and students' aids available but she was not qualified because she was an international student. As international students they had to pay a very expensive health insurance premium for the family in that university, which made it hard for them to bring their daughter to the United States. F spoke first this time,

   "The worst is that my pursuit of going to graduate school has not gone
   anywhere. I have not been offered any assistantships yet, even with my good
   scores in GRE and TOEFL. That makes me feel very bad. I guess I still
   should blame myself for it. American citizens have a lot of, a lot of
   advantages which we do not have. There are many different grants and aids
   they can apply for. I cannot work off campus. And it is hard to get work on
   campus and plus that is not enough to pay my out-of-state tuition. What is
   more, the university decides that foreign students have to buy a certain
   health insurance which is very expensive. Y's assistantship is barely
   enough for the two of us to live on, so there is no way for him to help me
   with my tuition. You know, our savings from China means nothing for tuition
   here."

   "In China, when I work I feel I stretched my brains at least. Got
   challenges when I did projects or edited a journal with other people, I
   keep up with the academic life. Here I stay home when he goes to school. I
   watch TV and sleep all day long. It is a waste for me. Another major reason
   for me to feel bad is that we cannot bring our daughter here because of the
   present financial situation."

   Y added that,

   "It doesn't really mean we are doing better here than home. Not like what I
   thought before I came here. We expected too much before. I feel American
   students do not learn as much as Chinese students do in universities. Some
   teachers here want to attract more students and to raise their fame. They
   would design some new classes at 500 levels, or special topics, and give
   students good grades and less work. More students will go to these classes
   and get good grade. But that doesn't mean they learn. In Chinese
   universities, if you are not careful, you can easily get a 50% or 60% out
   of the total sometimes."