For six weeks of this summer, senior Micah See immersed himself in the Chinese language and culture, learning valuable skills for and developing his Chinese speaking ability through a State Department exchange program.

His opportunity was made possible through an organization known as the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-V).

Founded in 2006 by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, this department of government recognizes and identifies certain languages that are vital to national security. Through this, they appropriated funding for youth and adult exchange programs to educate American people in speaking these languages and improving Americans’ abilities to engage with people from around the world.

Both Micah’s father, computer science teacher Dan See, and Chinese teacher Yude Huang heavily encouraged Micah to apply after learning about the program from a 2019 SLUH grad who also participated in the program.

“Even though it was in the middle of a very busy junior year, I thought I might as well apply,” said Micah See.

See’s application process took place in two separate parts.

The first part included an online application where the program leaders got to know the applicants through essay questions about themselves and their language experience. The second part of the interview process was face to face, and See met with a member of the American Councils, one of the organizations who help with the program.

Along with the two interviews, a great letter of recommendation from Mr. Huang helped him to stand out during the application process, and show how capable he was of going through with the program.

“I think that some students applying in the program didn’t have much experience with the Chinese language in the past. Micah has participated with a lot of Chinese activities here at SLUH, winning first prize in the Chinese language competition, as well as going to Taiwan with me during the summer going into his junior year,” said Huang.

With the letter of recommendation and good interviews, See was selected for the program.

Upon being accepted into the program, See travelled to Xiamen, a city on an island in Southeast China, where he would be spending the next six weeks at the University of Xiamen.

See’s first few weeks took place primarily on campus, where he stayed in dormitories and attended classes at the university. For eight to nine hours a day, See and many other students were taught the Chinese language, as well as many other aspects of Chinese culture, by local teachers.

Class days would begin with two to three hour language classes, followed by lunch, and then a Chinese culture lecture.

“Through these culture lectures, we learned new aspects of Chinese culture. Some were about the Chinese educational system, or Confucian principles in Chinese culture,” said See.

After the lecture, an “interest class” was taught.

“It was kind of like an elective. During that time you have a bunch of different choices to choose from, and then you would split up into those groups of people. We had the opportunity to switch interest groups two or three different times, but each time there were multiple choices,” said See.

After the lecture, an “interest class” was taught.

“It was kind of like an elective. During that time you have a bunch of different choices to choose from, and then you would split up into those groups of people. We had the opportunity to switch interest groups two or three different times, but each time there were multiple choices,” said See.

Those choices included a calligraphy class, a traditional Chinese dance class, and a traditional singing class.

“In their culture, performing arts are a big deal, so it was very interesting for me,” said See.

The last class of the day included a session referred to as “tutoring time,” in which students in the program would communicate with older college students, allowing for them to improve their Chinese speaking ability.

After four weeks staying at the university, See spent his last two weeks staying with a host family—living with a Chinese speaking family in a Chinese apartment—allowing for him to become truly immersed in the culture, and further enhance his Chinese speaking ability from the university classes.

One of the more unique aspects of living in a Chinese household was the presence of an “A Yi,” which directly translates to “Aunty” in the English language, a housekeeper for the apartment who did the cooking and chores around the house.

“I’m a big believer in the fact that the language you speak changes the way you view the world. People who speak different languages have different systems of logic and ways of expressing their thoughts about the world, which therefore changes the way they see the world. I definitely observed a change of lifestyle in my host family; in the way they see or do things and their social conventions, and even the way they eat meals together. It’s just such a different style of living. In America we are used to having a lot of living space, with big houses and yards. There in China, they were comfortable living close together, and living close to a lot of other people. They had fewer belongings, but of the belongings they do have, they buy really nice things, and truly take care of them. It’s very different for me,” said See.

See had to make some difficult adjustments.

“I think the hardest thing to adjust to for me was the sense of a community and being around people all the time. Living in 20-story apartment buildings right on top of each other, being in dormitories and seeing people all the time, everything was so close together. There’s a real lack of space. It feels much harder to have a private life in China, especially with the cameras everywhere.”

Other experiences outside of staying with the host family and classes at the university included going to cities Shang-Hai and Quiam Zhou, visiting many traditional Chinese temples and the estate of the founder of China, Qun Shi Huang, eating in themed restaurants, and even riding the famous Chinese High Speed Rail.

“When it comes to bringing SLUH to that school, I definitely had a great foundation for the language and for learning it at a much more advanced level. I really had mastered the basics before the time I went on this trip because of our great Chinese program, especially the fact that the classes I attended were heavily focused on speaking, which is what Mr. Huang really emphasizes at SLUH,” said See. “Because SLUH talks a lot about the wisdom that’s present in belief systems all over the world, I really went into this trip thinking how I could improve myself and learn more about the 2000 year old Chinese culture, and having that confidence to accept and experience everything a culture has to offer, is definitely something I found valuable from SLUH during the trip.”