The challenge of academic writing for Chinese students within ...

How long I have been living here in Liverpool My answer is four years. Four years is a long
enough time to change a person‘s mind. In the past four years, I am sure I have dozens of
stories to talk about.
I prefer to introduce myself a little bit as a beginning. I am Max, from Hefei which is a
middle-size city in the east of China. I am the second child in my family, I have an older
brother. My father has been running a small business for ages in the city of Chengdu, in the
west of China. My mother decided to quit her job a long time ago because she has to take
care of my brother and me. As I said, my father was doing his job in another city (Chengdu),
but my brother and I had to stay in our home town for school.
Stage one: early life in Hefei and Chengdu
My early life was quite good. I did go to one of the best primary and Junior High schools in
my city. I also did well in my studies. But my life was first time changed after I completed my
junior school. That was the year 2001, my brother went to university. My father decided to
transfer me to a Senior high School in Chengdu which is thousands of miles from my
hometown. I was disappointed with his decision. But I had to go to Chengdu for my new life.
In China, everyone knows senior high school is important for a student‘s future. Senior high
school with a high reputation is the key to go to top universities. I am sure my parents wanted
me to go to one of the top universities. They just sent me to a top high school in Chengdu. But
nothing positive happened. I was totally under stress. First of all, I did not like boarding
school life. Second, I did not acclimatize myself to that new environment. After one term, I
lost interest in my studies. My parents did not notice my issues, they still believed I could
solve my difficulties. However, I did not have an attitude to study, I totally gave up.
Time flew to October 2003, the last year in my high school. The most important year for my
life, but I did not see any hope because of my terrible exam results. I was struggling with my
future. I was deeply lost. My father saw my confusion. He had a long conversation with me
and offered me a chance to restart my life: go to England or Canada for a new life to re-think
what I did in the past three years and what I have to do in the future. I did not give my
answer to him immediately. I considered this chance for about one week. I would like to take
this chance to fix my life, but on the other hand, I was afraid another failure was there
waiting for me. Also I knew it would cost my father lots of money. But finally, I chose to go to
England.
However, I failed to get a visa in September 2004 – I was upset a lot at that moment. After my
father and I flew to Beijing three times in three months, I got my visa to England. There was
a gap between September 2004 and March 2005. I did not waste it. I went to a specialist
language school for a short term course. I thought it would help.
I was going to step into a new stage of my life. I called it the turning point of my life.
Stage two: language and foundation course in Liverpool Hope University
March 11 th 2005, an important date for me, it was my first step on the land of England. To be
honest, I never thought I would live abroad. But things happened. I had to face the way I had
chosen. I knew there is a very very long road for me to walk along.
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