Day 1 struggles of studying in the states as a student-athlete

Studying overseas has been a 'thing' in Malaysia. People - aunties and uncles (you know who I am talking about) - have the concept of students that studied overseas tend to be smarter and etc. Well, I'm pretty sure you all know about the good stuff that people says.

Especially being a golfer like myself who didn't want to end her golf career earlier and doesn't see much opportunity locally, I wanted to continue it in the states where playing college golf was more common thing and the sport is well promoted/received across the country. I see more opportunities to advance my career in the states compared to back home in Malaysia. I admit that I am not that good of a golfer myself but people say chase your dreams and I did. 

With my parents' support, it made the applying process a little easier even though I did most of the work myself including searching for the right school, talking to people, asking for advice. It wasn't a common thing back then because there weren't a lot of people that went to the states but there were more than a handful. I will talk about my applying process in a future post.

It isn't easy studying in a country halfway across the globe. All the movies and shows that you've watched aren't enough to tell you about USA and the cultural difference will still smack you in the face; maybe even harder for those that comes from a public school. Changes wasn't as easy to expect for me since it was my first time traveling to the states. Your family and closest friends circle is not here with you and you're thrown into a sea of strangers that you see everyday on tv. You can't go home anytime you want. You don't get to eat the food that you eat daily. Everyone around you seems to know each other or come from the same high school. Strangers that says hi and ask about how are you doing around every corner. The only people that you can talk to at school at this point are either your coach, teammates or your roommate and no one understands you because of your heavy accent (or its the other way around with their accent. Its a mess either ways). Toilet doors have gaps so wide that you can tell there's someone in there without even having to knock on the door. On top of that, they don't carry cash around and rely heavily on the usage of debit/credit cards. Oh and there's jet lag to add on to your pile of stress. Perfect.

My first day of school was a mess. I went into the correct classrooms but at a wrong timing. I had to run across campus to make it to my next class so I am not late. I almost drown in a sea of paperwork from the international student department and the athletic department. The only time I could relax was during lunch and then I had practice and gym later. It was hectic!

I was really lucky to have a good team who understood what I was going through since they went through the same process. They understood how overwhelmed I was. They were the ones who taught me all the nooks and crannies about Calu. They were there for me when I needed help. It took a couple days for me to get used to all the friendliness and realisation that I've got to be independent in a foreign country.

That sums up about how bad it was for me but it was certainly a great memory that I don't mind going through again.

A couple tips from me to help you get through the first week.
1. make sure you KNOW your schedule
2. make time for breaks, unexpected meetings and appointments with your professors
3. google, quizlet, wikipedia, yahoo answers, coursehero will be your best friends
4. use the facilities provided and attend activities, you paid for them anyways
5. don't forget to do your homework online, they count a great deal in your final grade
6. make friends and have fun!

H2.