Nicole Yu: International Third-Year Transfer Student By Nicole Lee

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Yanyin Yu, or more commonly known by her American name, Nicole Yu, is an international fourth-year transfer student at the University of California, Berkeley. She is of Chinese descent; born and raised in the Guangdong province of southeast China, Nicole didn’t move to America until she turned sixteen years old. She spent her entire childhood in China – receiving an education from Chinese educators, socializing in Mandarin and Cantonese with her friends, and immersing herself in her own native culture for most of her life. Prior to immigrating to America, Nicole attended a public school in China where all of her teachers were Chinese natives. At Nicole’s school in China, however, English is a required course of study taught mostly by emphasizing English vocabulary, completing short one-page writing assignments, and practicing spelling. Learning English pronunciations and engaging in realistic English conversation wasn’t the goal for educators in China. The goal in China was to prepare students to pass their post-high school exam, which was their ticket into attending a university. The exam is highly demanding for Chinese students because it requires knowledge of English reading, comprehension, spelling and writing. For Nicole, the most stressful part of this exam was that students taking it …show more content…

She says these courses helped reinforce her writing and public speaking skills, and it was in community college where she gave her first formal presentation entirely in English, which to her felt both nerve-wracking and liberating. After completing two years of community college, Nicole filled out her transfer student application to UCB, UCLA, UCSD, and UCI. Giving credit to her essay about immigration and English-learning, Nicole was admitted to all four universities, but decided to attend Berkeley due to its proximity to her family and

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