The first day of Carroll for me was scary. It was my first day of school in America alone. I was excited, too. 

My host family taught me how to take the school bus. I usually walk to the first bus station and change to the school bus at Haverford High School. I still remember I was afraid of getting on the wrong bus so when I got on the school bus, I finally relaxed after I saw people wearing the same uniform as me. 

The next problem for me was to find my homeroom. I was lost at Carroll. I was nervous to ask for help but I had no choice. I asked a girl and she led me to the main office. She made my day. With her help, I found my homeroom successfully and met my best friend in Carroll — Christy. 

It’s funny that my biggest problem in Carroll at first was I couldn’t identify people, like my teacher couldn’t distinguish between Christy and me sometimes. People said hi to me in the hallway but I didn’t know who they were. The only thing I could do was to answer them with a smile and then ask Christy “who’s that?” This problem was solved easily after two or three months but it still happened sometimes.

I used to be afraid of presentations. People laugh at me because of my accent. However, I am lucky that most of my classmates are nice and friendly. They always encourage me and help me. After some time I realized that accents only mean where you come from. 

I appreciate every person I met in Carroll and it was a great experience for me.