Time is fleeting. I have not noticed that I almost finished the two-semester pathway program. Reviewing this year, I really appreciate that I have benefited so much from the pathway program.

First of all, I have taken several English courses, which have improved my English ability and adapted American Education environment. Such as EAP506, which helped me to recognize the academic writing conventions; EAP507, which taught me to write a literature review and how to do a poster presentation; INYO501, which showed the importance of academic integrity; INYO502, which gave me instruction to finish my resume and other application materials. During taking these courses, I engaged in plentiful presentations and in-class discussions. Since spoken English is my weakness, I felt very diffident at the first presentation. However, I engaged in and practiced plentiful presentations and in-class discussions during taking these courses. Such experiences help me adapt to use English to speak in front of the public.

In addition, I have interacted with other international students and native students through group projects and daily conversations. When I talking with other students, I learn more perspectives from them and I know how to communicate with others even if we have cultural differences. Meanwhile, I also found numerous smart and industrious students at our university. I am very glad to listen to their experience and learn from them.

The pathway program gives me one year to adapt to new teaching pattern in the US. At present, I am familiar with graduate education pattern, which is that students need to actively engage in class activities and self-explore study. As a graduate student, I am supposed to read more published articles related to my field and use critical thinking to evaluate others’ opinion. Further, it is useful to discuss with instructors and classmates, because they have more research and work experience. Thus, I learn more about our major concentration and career development. Since my undergraduate program tended to clinical psychology, I had no idea about Industrial and Organizational Psychology field before I came to the pathway program. However, I learn about basic research topics of IO psychology and what can IO psychologists do in practice, such as people analyst, HR, etc. I am grateful that the pathway program makes a bridge from my undergraduate program to the graduate program. This period of time provides more time for me to evaluate myself and decide my future academic pursuit and career goals.

To sum up, the pathway program does contribute to my adaptation in a new environment, and I am ready for my graduate program right now.