Life is strange. I will never forget the afternoon when my mom asked me to study abroad in the United States. A journey filled with ups and downs and surprises and struggles awaited me when I answered “yes” without even thinking because people all say studying in the United States will be easier than Chinese schools.

I used to be a stubborn and prideful person. In China, I never failed to meet the teacher’s requirements and was on top of everything among academic achievements. I, of course, had lots of leadership positions in the school.

When I first entered Fresno Christian’s campus, unlike my confidence that I had in the familiar settings, I felt nervous and uneasy. Because I was a stranger to everyone, I started to be cautious about what I spoke and how I acted.

Many setbacks came in a way that caught me off guard. Surrounded by many frustrations, I realized I had to follow the flow in order to make friends and get rid of the title of “Chinese international student.”

In the end, I understood that progress isn’t easy, and the results may also not be what I wanted. I accepted and appreciated the fact that as an international student, I am unique in many ways. The four years in FCS truly taught me that as long I am not willing to be ordinary, I will eventually glow in my own strength.

Throughout my high school career, I was lucky enough to find a direction of majoring in communications and public relations. I always knew our school’s publication team, The Feather Online, was/is an award-winning national team with outstanding advisers and journalists.

However, I wasn’t confident to join this team from the start because, who can imagine a journalist publishing news articles in her second language?

However, I joined the team and a teacher with lots of energy and enthusiasm for journalism. Greg Stobbe, one of the advisers for The Feather, from the beginning saw the possibilities in me that I never foresaw myself. He chased me down in every corner of the school building for my whole junior year to challenge me to take the publications class.

Every time Stobbe walked up to me with his exaggerated gestures and loud voice, the thought of trying out The Feather became a little more clear. He touched me by his real passion and sincereness of helping me to grow.

It was rough for me to start this new role of being a student journalist and took me a long time to get used to it. Stobbe never gives up on all the international students and spends far more time on us every day than any other classmates. A teacher who has the knowledge, is passionate about his job and patient about the students is difficult to find, but Stobbe demonstrates it so well.

Coming into class every day, I was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm expressed by him. In time, his belief in me encouraged me to a point that I felt I can, and did, overcome the obstacles in the class.

The best thing from the tasks that I completed in The Feather is that I gained more self-confidence by interviewing professionals. I talked to Fresno environmental activist Kieshaun White for my first interview in my life. I was scared and nervous to start up a conversation with him. After asking the questions, I quickly pushed the stop recording button and walked away. The interview was only two and a half minutes.

Looking back at my recent articles about Earth Day and COVID-19, I was able to lead my interviewees with a friendly conversation for around ten minutes, and also making connections with them for future article ideas.

Because English is my second language, I need to try harder and dedicate myself to finish one article. But in the end, I found a sense of achievement once I finished the articles that can not compare to the tiredness during the work.

Besides improving academically and professionally as a journalist, I enjoy being on the team because of the comfortable environment. I love how the Feather family has each other’s back and would encourage and help out when anyone needs help.

Even though we won the NSPA 2020 Online Pacemaker award this year, it is still mind-blowing to me that such a small team could have won national awards year after year. This shows how much work, time and effort each one of us poured into it together. Aside from growing individually, I am always impressed by the cohesion in The Feather.

I remember my first article was completely about my journey as an international student. I never had a chance to put my journey in words. To my surprise, many other journalists came up to me and thanked me for sharing this story. They all encouraged me and said that “it is okay to be vulnerable.”

In the meantime, I will never forget the supportive messages that Stobbe constantly gave us every day. I joined The Feather because he said, “I believe in you.”

I, therefore, encourage high school students to take part in The Feather and publications class. If you are still uncertain about your career direction in the future, why not try the journalism area and make connections with other professionals? The class will give you skills to use in any future major in college. These are life skills.

For international students, we already are brave enough to study abroad; don’t let fear stop you from learning new things. The Feather is a great place to practice English.

I never imagined how quickly my high school career would vanish. We all only get one high school journey and it is fortunate to be in a small school where we have a chance to participate in different activities. Challenge yourself and join The Feather, I promise you that you will grow tremendously, and this memory of being on staff will last forever.

After graduating Fresno Christian, Zhao will attend University of Southern California in the spring of 2021 where she will study communication. 

For more on senior reflections, read Senior reflection: Avery Jones and  Senior Reflection: Kamryn Schultz.

For more articles written by Serena Zhao, visit her profile page.