Khadijah I. Wilson ’20

I chose to attend Hood College because of its location and size. The classes were small; and I really appreciated that coming from a big high school. There wasn’t one deciding moment when I knew I would graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Hood; however, the moment I looked at the campus during my college visits, I knew that it would be in my top 3.

I was in love with Asian culture ever since middle school. It was in high school when I knew I would go abroad to China because, although I really liked Korean, I chose to teach myself Mandarin in high school because of its growing influence. I introduced myself to a pen pal from Changsha and we are still friends to this day.

Shanghai was the most amazing study abroad experience I ever had. The most challenging part was trying to find someone to go places with me because I never wanted to go alone. I always felt anxious or scared when I went places by myself. If I did go to places by myself, I found that I would make friends along the way. Fortunately, the pen pal I made in high school was in Shanghai for school. We were able to go to a lot of fun places like the botanical gardens and Disneyland. The most rewarding experience was having some of my conversations completely in Mandarin. I’ve studied in high school and college learning a language by myself, and it felt amazing to finally use it.

Fortunately, I studied in Shanghai and came back before the pandemic started. I came home June 1, 2019, so the pandemic did not affect my experience at all.

My academic experience in China (through CAPA) was not different from my academic life that I had at Hood. I feel that I didn’t get the full experience of having classes in Mandarin, but I didn’t know the language well, so I was grateful of that. Comparing the classes I had in Shanghai to the classes I had at Hood, I liked the fact that all the classes in Shanghai were 3 hours long. I only liked this because we then only had classes once a week and that gave me the opportunity to go out more and explore. I also didn’t like the 3-hour classes because, although we got breaks, it was difficult to focus and sit still. Other than that, it felt as if I was at Hood College learning about globalization and Chinese culture.

My favorite non-academic experience was going to Disneyland. There isn’t much else to say here. Who doesn’t like Disneyland? My favorite ride, which is not open in any of the parks in the United States yet, is Tron. My favorite attraction was Challenge Trails, which also is not in the United States. In the Challenge Trails, I had to rock climb past a waterfall. It was fun. Going with my pen pal made it even more fun. I also really liked joining the softball club, riding the subway, and shopping with my friends. Almost everything was at a good price.

Once the pandemic is over, I would encourage Hood College students to make up any reason to go outside every day. Once you’re studying abroad, there aren’t many reasons to stay in your dorm (or whatever housing option you choose). The advice I was given by Hood alumni that studied abroad was not to take an internship. I don’t regret skipping out on an internship while abroad because it gave me more of a reason to explore the city for myself.