Life is good, but hard. Sometimes we lost, sometimes we win. We may not notice that happiness is around us because we don’t know some of our pain, disappointment, joys and sorrows; separations and reunions can also led to happiness.
Life was much harder when I first came to America by myself. I needed to learn how to fit in here, and it was my first time living all by myself. At the same time, I also needed to learn how to study here. English and History are the two most difficult subjects for most of the international students. Reading English novels in class and study those novels really shocked me. Hundreds and hundreds of words were not familiar to me, and I had to spend two or four times as long finishing my reading. When we worked on essays, I had no ideal how to start. My sentences were too short and simple, not even like a high school student’s should be. When I first saw my history book, my head already felt dizzy. “If that is the kind of book I have to study for years, I will be dead soon”, I thought.
But things got better. When I am in China, people and friends are everywhere. Here in America, people always say hello to me. Sometimes I can feel they are saying that not from the heart, because they don’t know me. I’m not surrounding by family and friends any more. Blending into this community is not that easy. I got a cold during the last few days of the semester, and that has made me feel worse. I miss my hometown food. Every time I get a cold at home, my mother cooks some vegetable soup for me and my cold would go away quickly, before I even need medicine.
After that I got much better than before. Like this time, I came to NMH all by myself, and that was my first flight alone. I had to change the flight three times, from my hometown to the capital city, and then flow to Los Angles. I arrived in Boston successfully at last.

Although I have great difficulty here, I have also gained many benefits. I have become much more outgoing than before. My parents always said to me, “You should talk more and make more friends.” They will be very happy to see how I have changed. I can manage myself much better than before. They will notice I have learned a great deal of English. I am more active in the community now, and happiness is also around me.