by Christina Lee
The only way I can describe my study abroad experience is with a tired exclamation: “Oh, ACC.” Most of my days comprised of waking up at 7am, going to class at 8 in the morning, and staying up into the wee hours of the night studying Chinese characters. Were there days that I utterly loathed my abroad program? Yes. But would I do it all over again? Absolutely.
I opted for a non-Pitzer study abroad program called Associated Colleges in China, better known as ACC, located in Beijing. This study abroad program, hosted through Hamilton College in New York, can more or less be described as Chinese boot camp. Hosting approximately 75 students in the summer and 60 students in the fall from colleges throughout the country, ACC attracts those looking for a way to improve their Chinese language skills. My roommate always said, “All ACC students are crazy, why else would we volunteer to do this program?”
She was right. All of us were somewhat nuts to voluntarily take a language pledge to only speak Chinese for an entire semester and study somewhere from 30 to 300 Chinese characters a night. I did the program for two semesters, suffering through the blistering heat in the summer and the snowy cold in the winter.
But all joking aside, for anyone interested in learning Chinese, you should consider this program. There is a steep learning curve to ACC, the language pledge is extremely daunting at first, but everyone eventually gets the hang of it. All the teachers are extremely patient and helpful and often remain after class to gave additional assistance.
Despite ACC’s emphasis on language learning, there was still time to indulge in other activities. We took trips to the Shaolin Temple, Xi’an, and Nanjing, learning about various cultures in China. Through experiences in Beijing, be it a result of conversation with a cab driver or interactions with our host families, we gradually understood the different bits and pieces of Chinese culture in the new millennium.
Looking back on my experience at ACC, I wouldn’t have preferred my abroad experience any other way. I didn’t only complete ACC with better Chinese skills, but also met amazing people from colleges across the country and grew more mature in the process.