Hanna Yang

I am from the Republic of Korea and graduated the school of nursing in my country. For my husband's job, I've been living in Richmond since 2017. I thought about applying to a Master’s program in nursing but was afraid of taking the classes due to my lack of communication skills in English. That was why I determined to join in English Language Program(ELP) at Virginia Commonwealth University(VCU).

Unlike my experiences with other English as Second Language(ESL) programs, the ELP at VCU helps students to continue their learning into academic programs. The program coordinates with global student services and they help students who want to apply to an undergraduate or graduate school by enhancing, not just general level English, but also an academic level of communicating in English.

When I started to learn how to write academic papers, I felt frustrated. However, the teachers at the ELP helped me a lot and lead me to read a range of papers and articles. At the end of class, I felt so proud of myself and gained self-confidence in terms of communication in English.

Thanks to the ELP, I became confident to enter the graduate school of nursing.