I Have a Good Reason to Be Happy

Soo-jung Kim, 701

Since I came to America, my life has been better, not because I live in America, but because now I'm doing what is sure to be valuable for my life. Here, in davis, I usually get up between 7 and 7:30, but back home I used to get up very late, sometimes as late as noon. After school, I used to go home late at night and spend one or two hours watching TV or reading before going to sleep. Then I often overslept my first class the next day. Now I attend all my classes every day, even though the first class begins earlier than back home. I also make my lunch in the morning, which I never used to do. I think I was lazier back home in Seoul for two reasons. First, I was tired of the traffic jams. Second, I had lost interest in my major. I didn't want to waste my time and energy fighting the traffic just to take two or three boring classes. Even if I went to school, I came back home very late to avoid rush hour, and the next day I would oversleep again. However, not it takes me only ten minutes to get to the Extension Center from my place -- by foot! Besides, I like the classes because I know that they are really useful. So how could I be lazy?

Some people complain that davis is a very boring place, but that doesn't matter to me because the most important thing is that I'm doing what I really need to do. Now I can study harder than before, get up early and manage my own day, because I know my experience in America -- not just learing English, but also handling the difficulties of life as a foreigner, will certainly be helpful for the rest of my life. Therefore, although there could be some problems while I live in Davis, now I'm much happier than before.