What has UCSB taught me?

    In a blink of an eye, my four years at the University of California, Santa Barbara have passed. As I begin to reflect on my experience at the university, I realized how fortunate I am to get the opportunity to be in this beautiful place. Therefore, I want to pass on the different invaluable lessons that I have learned to the incoming and continuing international students.
    In the first quarter of my college year, I started out working a part-time job at the dining hall because being an international student, I never had the opportunity to earn money before coming to college. As such, I spent roughly 10-15 hours a week working as I hoped that my minimum-wage job would help offset some of the tuition cost. However, I realized now that no matter how much I worked, the tuition that we have to pay is so much that a quarter of 10 working hours per week is only a drop in the bucket. Therefore, instead of working right when you enter college, I would suggest spending the extra time joining cultural organizations, attending the multitude of events that are hosted weekly and hanging out with your friends that you made at the dorm. Since the classes you take are only harder as the years progressed, it is best to spend your freshman year exploring as many opportunities as possible. The time spent working is better spent on diversifying your friendship circle and developing professional connections through industry events.
    Moreover, my second lesson is related to the power of networking in college as I believe this is one of the best time to do so. I remembered attending my first ISAB event when I met my first Vietnamese friend here who introduced me to her other friends and through a chain of connection, I eventually met someone who is working at the company I wanted to work at. It was through their referral that I landed a spot working there and I could confidently say that if I had not attended the social event that night, I would not be in the position that I am today. That is the power of networking because you never know how the person that you are meeting now can be helpful to you in the long run. Additionally, this is just an example of one event out of a multitude of social events hosted at UCSB and this goes to show that there are opportunities to develop yourself professionally here and I would recommend taking advantage of these events when you can.
    Lastly, my third lesson is do not be afraid to make mistakes and I surely have made my fair share of mistakes during my university years. From getting a below average midterm grade, mismanaging money to taking on too much responsibility at once, I was able to identify where things went wrong for me and learned from them. This specific lesson itself reminds me of a Vietnamese proverb: “Failure is the mother to success” and logically it makes sense as more often than not, it is by failing fast and failing hard that you get the most life-changing lessons. Therefore, if you did worse than what you expected on an exam, realize that you are not alone and trace back to where you went wrong, understand the solution to the problem and make an active effort to stop yourself from repeating the same mistakes.
    Consequently, these are some of the most important lessons that UCSB has taught me and I will carry these lessons with me throughout the next stage of my life. It is my hope that through reading my testimonial, international students can have a more positive experience at a place I called my second home. My journey from being a freshman to a senior at UCSB was not smooth but I enjoyed every moment of it. Thus, to all the fellow international students who are going to graduate soon, give yourself a good pat on the back because you went through so many obstacles to be able to wear that cap and gown today.