And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

–Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken”

Although it has been repeatedly quoted and interpreted, I’m still willing to start the whole essay with this sentence, maybe since these words are really appropriate here. Having seen a predecessor from the “1+2+1” program wrote this poem in his reflection, I think perhaps we have completely different experiences in the two-year’s stay in the United States; the feelings in each period, moreover, were also fleeting which cannot be grasped easily afterwards, but some similar thoughts must have once truly appeared in our minds which the successors are bound to re-experience as well.

I still remember the first time I wrote this sentence out was around the middle of August, 2008 when I was about to leave in several weeks. As a result, I have received many blessings as well as worries. “Would you be afraid,” or “Do you think you have chosen the right road,” was the question I have heard most frequently at that time. As a reply, I smiled and said, “I’m not sure, maybe I will know sometime after I get there.”

However, I later realized, how could someone tell the road was right or wrong before s/he passed it and looked back for a moment?

Soon after coming back, I talked with a girl who would leave for British in a few months. Because of the huge differences in culture and customs, she showed many anxieties toward the coming the journey. Hoping to give her some practical suggestions, I tried to recollect the two-year’s life in the United States, but I finally only said, “Don’t worry, everything will turn out to be alright in the end.”

If we have the conversation again today, I will probably still say the same thing; it’s not because of perfunctoriness, but indeed what I think and conclude for the two-year’s life. Undoubtedly, I must have all kinds of upsets as well before and when I first went to the United States, but perhaps the subconscious idea of experiencing everything was so strong that I was almost accustomed to ignore all the uneasiness. “Don’t turn round or feel pity for yourself since the road is out of your own choice,” this was actually the idea kept in my mind all the time during the life at UNK (University of Nebraska at Kearney).

Kearney is a quite and peaceful town in Nebraska with broad plains; this is probably different from many people’s imagination toward America as a prosperous and bustling place. Because of the less dense population, there is usually a long distance between buildings. As a result, every time when we went off-campus, pedestrian could seldom be seen and only the vehicles were coming and going besides. Therefore, we could not help to play jokes on the country life at the beginning. However, a few months later after I had been to several cities, I gradually became adapted to the quite and simple life there; it brought my life an utterly different environment.

In the first few months, there were not many things to do and the weather was still suitable, I would pass the beautiful gardens, lake and park to go for a walk near campus sometimes at dusk; many unforgettable scenes could also be seen during the sunset. Same as its environment, people in Kearney are always very friendly. For example, they would smile and say hello to strangers; some of them were even willing to stop and ask if we need a ride.

But the interesting thing is, Kearney’s weather is always unexpectedly and capricious; it would probably snow tomorrow while it’s still sunny outside at this moment. I still remember that the snow came in October in my first year there. Although I grew up in North China, I had never experienced Kearney’s snow and cold before. Fortunately, it was always very warm inside which made the winter not as long as imagined. In the last winter before I left, I even expected to see the snow outside for only the white scenery made me feel that this was the place I familiar with in the two years.

Although it is in such a small and quite town, UNK is still a university with enough vitality and variety of facilities. The buildings for different departments, library, student union, gym, football field and various styles of student dormitories loosely formed the entire campus. There are also many activities on campus, such as the carnival at the beginning of every fall semester and all kinds of concerts and performances during the semester. Americans like sports, so different competitions between schools are very frequent, especially on weekends, the football games always attracted all the people in town; this is one of the most exciting moments in the quite town, the sound of the music, drums and people’s cheers can be heard from a distance.

In addition, the international students at UNK come from more than fifty countries, this not only reflects the campus’ inclusiveness and diversity, but also provides us more opportunities to communicate with the people from various cultural backgrounds in the activities held by different student organizations, such as International Food Festival, Japan’s Cherry Blossom Festival and Nepal’s New Year Party. Moreover, Chinese Students & Scholars Association will also hold a party for the Spring Festival every year, which can always attract hundreds of people.

Different from the leisure of the environment in Kearney and the activities on campus, the courses of American university can never be treated carelessly, especially for the courses required by the major. On the other hand, American university respects every student as an independent individual, so the courses are usually arranged based on a student’s own time and decision.

The courses in UNK are generally taught in small classes. For example, for English major, around twenty students usually form a class. In most cases, we would sit into a circle, because the professors like communication and discussions, this form allows both teachers and students to express their views freely. As a matter of fact, reading, discussion and paper can be regarded as the three most important and common meanings for the study of English major. Therefore, I was always inevitably to take numerous packages of books back while others looked at me surprisingly at the beginning of every semester. Similarly, the regular papers were unavoidably and especially by the end of a semester, around sixty pages of final papers were usually waiting for me to finish. As a result, in the two years, I have accumulated nearly two hundred papers, which could never thought before, and the most important thing is, I have indeed learned a lot from them.

Unexpectedly, the last semester at UNK became most difficult time for me; although the courses were slightly less than before, the preparation and participation of GRE made me can only keep four or five hours’ sleep for a long time. At that time, I said to myself that it was hard to say that my current effort could surely bring me success, but no pay no gain; it was a simple truth which could only be fully understood at that moment.

If there is any time can have a small rest, holiday is undoubtedly a good choice. In addition to the winter and summer breaks, universities in America also have many other breaks like the Thanksgiving and Spring break. In other words, they provide a good time for travel. Since I’m fond of travel, I almost spent every holiday in different cities with my friends. Even in the last semester, I still went to San Diego with my friends during the Thanksgiving break.

This was my third time to California, but it was still special because it was my first time to travel by car. We went across six states and through snow mountains, grand canyon and desert from Nebraska to sunny California. Although it was somehow a hasty journey because of limited time, the experience in the five days still made me deeply realize the vast of the country and the nature.

On the Christmas morning after I came back, I went to a church with my foreign teacher. Sitting there and listening to the choir’s singing, I suddenly recollected that I was walking in the crowd on the bustling Fifth Avenue two years ago on Christmas day and I saw the fireworks last year in Disney World, Orlando; some unspeakable marvelous feeling came to me at that moment. I remembered that in a letter I sent when I first went to Kearney, I said that maybe what I had long waited was a journey like this, I just wanted to experience and to see how much I can do in the end. And now I’m here again; when I stopped and looked back, it’s still hard to say the road I have taken is utterly correct, but one thing is certain, I value the two years and the experience during this time. Moreover, I completed a long-waited trip in the two years, which made me see the world as well as myself, and hope that I can keep on one day.