Can you relate?

Reflection. That’s a popular word with educators. But what do we mean when we say that?

Reflection as processing

You will have many deep experiences as an international student. Those experiences will come, and they will go. Of course, you can simply let them go and turn your attention to the next thing. That’s normal and human and often necessary. But you can also find ways, during, or with some distance from your experiences, to occasionally turn your thoughts back upon them, to savour them, make sense of them. It’s more than just remembering; it’s remembering with intention, a process that involves inquiring about what those past and ongoing experiences mean for you. It involves asking questions like: How did that experience shape who I am? What did I learn from that experience? What wisdom did I gain from that experience that I can now apply to new experiences? What kinds of impact did that experience have on my life?

And, taken one step further, an act of reflection like this can also involve making things – creating artifacts as expressions of that reflection. This takes the reflective act and makes it an artistic one, which, as any artist will tell you, can be profound. Writing, or journaling, is perhaps the most common form here, but any kind of creation will do. Acts of creation in the reflective process can focus the mind’s attention as it remembers an experience and makes meaning from it by giving it form. The students you met in the video clips throughout this e-book, are doing exactly that – reflecting upon their experiences as international students and making things to express that.

Reflection as metacognition

Metacognition is just a fancy way of saying…thinking about one’s thinking… and this is a very effective form of learning. The Adjusting and Engaging chapters in this e-book are very much about metacognition. Strong students will do two things as they adjust and engage in their learning: 1. experiment with new approaches to studying and learning (think); 2. reflect on their experience with those new approaches to see if/how/when they work (think about thinking). Thinking back upon your learning – not just the content of your courses, but your experiences learning it, the approaches you took to learn it, the challenges you faced in learning it etc. – is a very effective way to strengthen your critical thinking skills and deepen your approach to study and learning – characteristics of lifelong learners.

Ways to reflect

For any of you interested in engaging in good reflective process, here are some suggestions:

Reflect on things as you do them

This is a kind of reflection in action or having a conversation with the situation (See Donald Schon^[1] if you’re interested in a much deeper dive into these ideas). Simply, try to be aware of your experience as a student as its happening and see if it leads to insight, a new perspective, or a way to solve a problem. Being a student is like having a profession and it’s a thing you can get better at through this process.

Reflect on things after you do them

Make time to just think, to remember with intention. It’s amazing how little time we tend to devote to this most important activity of learning. And you can do it anywhere, on your walk, in the car, public transit, while cooking, doing your laundry. Think back on your student experiences with the intention of learning something from those experiences than you can bring to the new ones.

Talk about things

With friends, family, peers, teachers. Talking is a superb form of reflection and learning. By articulating your thoughts out loud, you deepen your understanding, generate new insights, get feedback, and reveal where your gaps are. It can be a powerful way to gain insight and deepen your understanding of a topic – hallmarks of good learning. Teaching, or pretending to teach to others – sometimes called the protégé effect – can be one of the most effective forms of learning.

Join things

Seek out those opportunities which will very likely be available to you from your campus programs and peer communities – learning programs, mentorship opportunities, student groups, etc. This form of student engagement can foster all kinds of social and intellectual connections and opportunities for reflection. Don’t feel pressure to join things out of a sense of obligation – there is plenty to keep you busy in your classes and personal life. But be aware of what’s available – you might find something that really enriches your experience.

Make things

Write journals, paint pictures, draw doodles, play music – also excellent forms of reflection. You don’t have to be “an artist” to do this. It’s the process of making that matters, not the thing that is made. And, in the end, you will have a rich record of your student experiences to look back upon someday.

“The frame of reference through which one peers at the world shapes what one learns from that world.” ^[2]

Concluding advice

So, now what? Hopefully, by now, you have come to see this e-book, not as a “read-once-only” document, but as a resource that you can come back to again and again. It’s not a single-use recipe for success, but a guidebook that you can interact with as various things become relevant for you. It is full of useful information that can help you make informed choices along the way, manage some of the challenges of becoming an engaged student in a new place, and benefit from the experiences of other students who are undergoing similar things. It doesn’t include everything, of course, but it’s a start.

So, our last piece of advice is to find some way to keep this e-book handy for yourself, make it useful in an ongoing way as you have your various experiences as an international student. And, in some way that works for you, find opportunities to reflect on those experiences to deepen what you learn from them. If nothing else, watch the videos and listen to the audio of your fellow students here again and again. They are unscripted, honest reflections, full of raw insight and wisdom. They are your peers, they know something of what you’re going through, and they genuinely hope their thoughts will be helpful to you. Let them be an inspiration to you and remind you that there will be a lot of joy among the challenges and that the life experience you bring to your campus will make it a much more interesting and enriching place.