New classrooms, new people, new teaching methods, new surroundings, and adapting to all these can be quite a challenge as an international student studying abroad. To adapt to the new conditions, you have to shed your fear of what the next person will think about you. You need to talk to them because it’s just interaction that will tell you about the like-mindedness you will find.
Most of the bonding will take place in your college/university during the classes, on the campus, and with your hostel inmates. Use this time to overcome your hesitation and form bonds with your batch mates. Manifest the time in hand while you are studying abroad, adding valuable knowledge and experience.
Class participation becomes equally important to adapt to classroom culture and be a part of it. When you express yourself in class, you represent your ideas in a way for others to understand. While you ask questions, you learn to acquire information and develop an understanding of the topic being taught.
However, some may find constraints in speaking in the classroom because of their stage fear. The struggle of not speaking in the classroom may develop in certain ways, such as not volunteering to answer the question, not speaking in small groups, and community talks, the worst not speaking at all.
It happened to one of my classmates who had immense fear in speaking to professors. In many of the universities/colleges, two to five marks per subject are given for the class response and participation. Although she got good grades in expressing herself in writing, she did not gain much for the class response.
Confidence is a quality that you can learn when you participate in classroom discussions. At times your teachers ask questions, and when you respond, your impression improves. Don’t fear the factor of being right all the time. If you speak in class in front of people, you will gain the confidence to speak in public and face the real world. Confidence is an asset that develops leadership qualities in you. When you are confident in facing the stage and people with knowledge, your success cannot be hindered. There is no place better than a college classroom to gain confidence as, after your college, most of you will be facing the world of working people.
When there are classes without student participation, they will get boring and monotonic. You don’t want to be sitting ducks in a class of 40 students. When you are active in the class, you will be interested in the topic being taught, and your learning will be better. When you raise doubts, discuss, and debate that’s being taught, you keep the classroom environment lively, and your mind grasps better with higher focus and increased attention span as the learning is two ways.
Your thinking develops when questions are put in a class. Your mind immediately starts to think of answers and connect the dots. Your analytical skills improve when you think in the direction of the question and seek possible outcomes. This form of participation not only keeps you engaged but the rest of the class as well.
When you are physically and mentally engaged in the class, you start thinking and forming opinions about the things that are taught. When you feel that your opinions are different than those of your professor, you think of expressing them. The time you express your opinion, you become fearless, which is important to survive in the competitive world.
In a classroom discussion, many ideas regarding a topic come forth. These are the fundaments of your research that you can put to use during assignments. Interesting facts also float when topics are discussed, and your knowledge expands. These are the purposes of attending colleges abroad as they make you confident and provide a platform to express yourself.
Studying in a developed country gives an advantage of better learning due to advanced technology and open-mindedness. Classroom participation is, therefore, an initial platform for transforming or improving your knowledge, learning, and personality.
