Team Bell 2009

How hard is it to live in a college community that prides itself as being "diverse" when it seems to alienate outsiders either subtly or directly due to my ethnicity and her nationality?

I went with a friend to a culture club, specifically the Chinese Culture Club. I walked away with her after the first meeting and tried to attend several meetings before realizing that sometimes, a culture club isn't what one thinks it is.

Perhaps I don't feel appropriate to write something that has had books and a variety of experiences that overlap but are not exactly the same, but I will speak for myself and the many who share this label and experience.

Sometimes, I don't know who I am. I have dual citizenship and loyalty to no country, yet feel at home when I am overseas, even when poverty is outside my window, and I barely speak the language of the people.

One of my less-than-pleasant memories as an international student was life in the dorms. It's not that dorm life is bad--it's just that the dorm -is- my home, so there's no chance for me to go home on the weekends occasionally as some do, let alone during long holidays like Thanksgiving (and god forbid the winter break).

Nietzsche once voiced his opinions on universal literacy in Thus Spoke Zarathustra and the problems that could arise from this. Specifically, he was referring to mass media and the quality of writing going down. This is somewhat of an omen in the present age when I think of people using abbreviations from the limited space to send a text message on their mobile phones, and the quality of writing and punctuation due to dependence on the red underline that comes with spell check.

For those who say "it's just the Internet" and get away with impunity, think again. Some may believe that since you can act differently online than in real life due to the filter of anonymity or the so-called security of a computer screen which prevents a well-deserved fist being shoved in their faces for bigoted remarks or sexual harassment, they are free of consequences.

I think it's downright insulting to take a class based on an instructor's review score online. I would be lying, however, if I said I did not look at these reviews. True, some students have reasons to complain, but nine times out of ten, a lot of the "unfair" professors who "grade too hard" or are "giving too much work" end up being the opposite of what they claim (and other reviewers often contradict what the complaints say in the same set of reviews!).

When I first got a laptop and used it to take notes in high school, the teacher and everyone seemed impressed and said that anybody who was lucky enough to have one ought to use it to take notes in preparation for college. Several years later, it seems to me that more people take notes in class on their computers instead of writing it down on a piece of paper in their notebooks. Or, they just log onto the wireless network and chat, surf the Internet (always with a capital I, remember), or play solitaire.

"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." - William Gibson, opening lines to "Neuromancer"

Technology has a way of making life convenient for us by the access we can have to our friends across the ocean, and can also divide us due to our misunderstandings, as it is a very limiting form of communication.

One very important thing to know is that when you are on the Internet—especially when appearing anonymously with your virtual avatar—there is a filter from real life that disappears, and you act differently than you would in person. The virtual world has its own rules and social norms, which can also very from site to site.

Whether you are appearing anonymously online on a forum with a unique user name, playing a game like World of Warcraft or Second Life, or using a social networking site, it is a very tempting opportunity to create and re-create yourself many times.

One thing I always notice is that international students and transfer students seem to have the most difficulties as opposed to incoming freshmen. Being both an international student and transfer, I endured difficulties that made adjustment nearly unbearable. It's bad enough that a transfer is expected to go out and find answers independently, but usually they have more resources from others who got burned out and are in the know.