Intro

After an airplane landed on the State College Airport, complicated feelings that consist of thrill and tension came over me. Step by step, I walked into the new world and felt similar feelings that might be the ones which pioneers who first came here in this land felt. From that day, my life of Penn State began. Back to fall 2011, everything was new to me in Penn State. I did not know many things about college life in the U.S. because not only it is the first time studying in abroad in my life but also it is the first time studying in the university. Though it was not easy to leave all of the familiarities behind in my motherland, there was no hesitation to leave home because I had a clear purpose that I want to achieve in the U.S.: To know how the U.S. became one of the greatest powers in the world and the way the U.S. maintaining its status.

As a student who has a history of the colonial era by Japanese, I want to know why it did happen. I found the reason from history; it was the wrong politicians and policies which could not overview the trends of that age. From this thought, I decided to study about how to manage or make the better future for my country to avoid the heartbroken past but my goal that was focused on my nation had been changed over time to the one that focuses on changing the world for the better place. That was the origin of my goal, to know how I can make the better future for my nation and the world by studying about the U.S., leading country in the world, in its lands and curricular. I was in great hopes studying about the U.S. and its power leading the world.

From this point, as spending almost a year in Penn State, it is surprising how I had been changed over time and what I learned in the U.S. within a year. Except common college life’s aspects, I learned many things about what roles we have in our society and how we view the world and act to successfully role as citizens who lead our nation. By investigating several issues or rhetorical materials, I come to a conclusion that if I want to be the one who can change the society and the world, I should be the one who stays awake about real meanings that leading powers want to deliver and know how those powers address their messages to people. Moreover, I realize that I should know about the rhetorical strategies that are used by leaders to clarify their messages and also to use those strategies to address my messages to people. Therefore, from this point, I would like to share several works and reflections that I worked during semesters.

Bo Kyun Shin's E-Portfolio