Student Spotlight
Sabarniati, IELSP student from Aceh Besar
Being an International student is amazing. I have been very interested in being an International student in a place where I am able to not only improve my English but also build my personality and increase my insight about the diversity as well. I have been studying at Ohio University for almost two months because I am a member of IELSP (the Indonesia English Language Study Program). I have gotten many experiences since I have been here. The program has been managed well with so many interesting activities both in learning English and culture.
We have formal English class four days a week. We had taken the TOEFL test for class placement, so the class that is provided for us depends on our own abilities. In the class, we study with many other International students who come from China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, etc. We are supervised by professional lecturers who are friendly and patient. They always make sure that we understand well what he taught, we won’t move to another topic or material if we don’t absolutely understand yet. They give us homework almost everyday. We really enjoyed doing the homework because we are sure that this will guide us to become successful students.
What do we do on Wednesday? It’s a special day for the IELSP. We go to the nearest elementary school named East Elementary School, every Wednesday. We are sharing intercultural information with the students while observing the American pedagogy; teaching methods that are used, students’ characteristics, teachers, etc. We teach them about Indonesian flora and fauna, holidays, Indonesian song and some words and/or phrases of Bahasa Indonesia too. They were very happy to welcome us. They also teach us the similar things as we did for them. Overall, has be a great time to learn about American Education and take some benefits of them to apply in my home country.
Saturday and Sunday are the time to enjoy our stay and learn about American culture and society. The program has managed our schedule well. Besides having the class schedule, we also have a weekend schedule. We were taken to many different places every weekend by one of OPIE's (Ohio English Language Study Program) teachers. For instance, they took us to Marietta to visit one of historical museums to learn about the history of Ohio, we also went to the Cleveland to watch a baseball game, we went to Columbus to visit the Ohio House of Representative, etc. We also spent one of the weekends with a host family. Each of us got our own host family and they picked us up to come to their houses. It is very exciting to be a part of American family life.
Finally, I would like to say thank you for all OPIE teachers who have already taught me plenty of useful knowledge, IIE (The Institute of International Education) and IIEF (the Indonesian International Education Foundation) that already gave me the opportunity to join this program. I absolutely enjoyed the program.
