Like most students on international exchange programs, Shavia Westmoreland experienced culture shock (文化冲击) in Beijing, China.
Instead of hiding herself from the outside, Westmoreland overcame (克服) her culture shock by doing an activity she enjoys — volunteering.
"A friend brought me to an orphanage (孤儿院) to help me overcome culture shock," she said, "He knew that I loved volunteering and language teaching, so he told me the orphanage would be a great place to 'develop a feeling of home' in a different culture and improve my language skills."
Westmoreland enjoyed the visit so much that she started volunteering at the orphanage. She visited once a week to teach English. She also did several "non-purpose" visits on the weekends, just to spend time with the children.
Working with the children, staff and other volunteers taught her more about Chinese culture and gave her chances to practice Chinese. "I had a better understanding of Chinese culture by working with the staff and volunteers. At the end of all conversations, I found that there were more similarities between us than there were differences," she said.
Volunteering also gave Westmoreland a sense of achievements and the courage (勇气) to hang out around Beijing on her own. "The experience developed my courage to hang out and learn more about Beijing on my own, giving me more chances to practice Chinese outside my class lessons," Westmoreland said. "The feeling of independence is an achievement for an exchange student, and I believe my volunteering was helpful to my study in China and was also a huge help to my personal growth."
