Harbey Peña

The ELP program at VCU helped me to achieve my professional goal to study the Master's Program of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University (GMU). The ELP assisted me with three core competencies: first, to communicate in an academic environment, second, to improve my listening, writing, and speaking in a professional level; and lastly, introduced me to a significant part of the American culture.

In order to study and succeed in the Master's program at GMU, I had to learn how to communicate in an academic environment. Any university requires that students can ask and answer questions, work in a group, have open discussions, express a point of view, etc. In 2008, I started the ELP and I did not have all those skills in English. Through the year, the professors at VCU helped me to communicate in an environment that was going to be similar at the Master's. For example, I had to write essays, make presentations in class, and create blogs. Those activities prepared me for my classes in the Master's program.

To learn a new language needs many competencies. Some of them are listening, writing and speaking. I took classes at the ELP in each of those skills and thanks to the English Language Program I was able to develop my knowledge and practice in English. I remember my first class where my professor spoke in English, even though I did not understand anything of what he said. However, to the extent that time passed, my ears were increasing my English understanding. My listening, writing and speaking classes were not easy. They were not supposed to be easy.

After I finished the ELP, I comprehended that it was necessary the level of demand of my professors. I am very grateful for their requirements and challenges. One of the things that I did not consider important to learn a new language was the culture. The ELP had some classes where the students visit museums, do meetings out of the campus, do tours to other cities in the United States, etc. I was not aware of how the classes that I mentioned above influenced in my cultural adjustment and encouraged me to have an open mind to learn things from other points of view. No culture is better or worse than the one that we have, but it is very important to have a good attitude to live new experiences and how it lights your English learning.

In summary, thanks to the ELP at VCU I was able to achieve my goal to study my Master's program in the U.S. I developed three competencies during my English learning process: 1. Communication in academic environments. 2. Listening, writing, and speaking skills. 3. Culture as a common ground for learning.