One of the best choices I made was signing up to be a conversation partner at my university. I went to the first meeting knowing little to nothing about it. After getting a lot of information about what it means to be a conversation partner I was so excited to sign up. I waited for a little over a week to meet the international students who signed up for my time and day of the week.

Eventually, I found out that I had three girls who signed up for my time slot. I walked into the room not knowing how to pronounce their names, but they were the only three girls there so we figured it out and they told me their “American names” which was what they called themselves so that I could pronounce it easily. I had two girls from South Korea, and one girl from China.

I was nervous at first because I knew it was up to me to keep the conversation going and to help them with any questions they may have about English or about the campus. I quickly realized I had the three sweetest international students I could have ever asked for. They kept up the conversation better than I could and asked me many things about American slang and told me all the differences between the university and where they were from.

They were so kind and even cooked me a Korean dinner. It was a very unique meal with no plates, and we all shared from the same dishes. They told me about their favorite American food which was pizza, I totally agreed with that, it's honestly everyone's favorite.

Meeting them only once a week was not enough time for me, I scheduled to meet with them multiple days throughout the week. I have learned just as much about them as they have about me. Learning about each other’s cultures was so interesting, and being their tour guide around a campus I was barely familiar with myself was very fun to do. It is truly a wonderful experience and it is more than worth your time.

Although I was skeptical about becoming a conversation partner at first, I have now realized it is one of the best things I have done in college. I would 100% suggest signing up to be a conversation partner at your university.