Finishing my undergraduate degree, I was thinking to study abroad and pursue my master’s degree. I noticed that George Mason University have Applied and Engineering Physics and this major cooperates with INTO pathways program not only to help improve English skills for international students but also to continue study on to the degree.
As an INTO mason pathway graduate student, I am happy that these experiences which are EAP and PROV courses enhance my English abilities that are listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Because of the course design, standard pathway program has two semesters that students can step by step learning. EAP courses that provide the academic writing and reading skill of western educational learning and PROV courses which develop the personal speaking and presentation ability. In the first semester, I learned to find resources and to analyze articles by using six rhetorical elements in the EAP class. In addition, I knew that how to write a summary because I learned to organize the article structure. Moreover, writing scholarly articles is a critical part that helps me to familiar with the writing of my discipline. In the PROV class last semester, I learned the Waste educational culture likes plagiarism and critical thinking. This course also improved the other ability which is to communicate and to collaborate with group members. Furthermore, increasing the capability of presentation in front of people and developing critical thinking are important things that are I learned in this class. This semester in the EAP course, I keep on to develop me writing skill. I learned how to gather discipline’s research, how to analyze the language of research, and writing a literature review. Then, the PROV class provides that building our professional identity in the future career such as writing resume and cover letter. These courses make me get ready to seek the graduate degree at George Mason University. I have strong writing skill and perfect oral skill, so I could perform well in my professional field.
During the pathway program, I also need to take courses in physics area. Although it is hard for me to get along with classmates who have background experiences. Because they can quickly reply the question’s answer that professors ask, I feel frustrated that I need to more steps to get the answer in the class time. I hope that I can strengthen the professional skill through finishing the pathway program.
In conclusion, this program gives international students to have a chance to study oversea. It is a wonderful experience to learn in the United States.
Yu-Hsun Portfolio 