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★Welcome to the Adventure into CNU!
By Hodjiyeva Kamola, Guest Reporter
Attending university in a foreign country is an adventure! Living in a new place as a stranger and studying abroad is a new chance to recognize who you are and what kind of person you may turn out to be at the end of your study period. I called it an adventure!
It has already seven months since I have begun my study period at Chonnam National University (CNU). An academic year in CNU as in other countries begins with a new student orientation period. As is the cases of native freshmen, foreign students begin with the participation of foreign student orientation. It is held in a big university hall to provide new students with support and the necessary information to ensure a smooth and successful transition into CNU. 
In Uzbekistan,, Samarkand State Institute of Foreign Languages (SamSIFL) school authorities rent a theatre hall for few hours to hold student orientation. The orientation program consists of introduction and musical parts. The introduction part includes teachers who introduce freshmen to university life and where faculty is situated. Seniors prepare the musical part and welcome their juniors. Approximately two weeks after finishing orientation, freshmen can get their student identification card. At SamSIFL, it does not matter if you are a foreigner or a native. You are a student, and it is an excellent word which students of SamSIFL know from the very first day in school.
The second difference is that here in Korea, students can attend any lecture they want to, but in Uzbekistan all courses and lectures are arranged for students. There are almost 60 subjects students have to take in four years, if they are full time students, because learning those subjects gives students a chance to learn more in different spheres. Also here in Korea, students can finish his or her study when they want to. In Uzbekistan students should finish their study within definite period of time determined by the Ministry of Education. So, I think that it takes much more time than in Korea to get a university degree. That is why here in Korea people with Ph.D. are very young. In our country they are almost 50 years old. My father got his Ph.D. when he was 50 years old. It takes a lot of time to do any kind of research in our country. 50% of youth in our country just want to get a job and make money. They just do not believe that attending university can make their future better. Their thought is: "I'd better go out for business, and make some money for my family".
I wish I could tell all young boys and girls that if one really wants to achieve his or her aim he or she must try and work much harder. It does not matter which university is attended. As a student, one should endeavor to identify and declare a specific educational goal and major and to make perfect educational plan and to make progress towards his or her goal. An orientation program will be helpful to be successful at school during study. One will receive information that will help prepare for the first counseling appointment, select your semester courses, and complete the registration process. ★