Taha Eralp Derya, TESOL, SUNY Cortland-AU’18
I heard and chose English Language Teaching dual diploma program offered by SUNY Cortland and Anadolu University during university preference period. I believe, being a college student makes a student discover herself/himself and give an opportunity to improve himself/herself. However, I can say that being a student at SUNY schools is a privilage, even more, it is a milestone. SUNY Cortland is a corner stone for me.
In addition to major field courses, taking liberal education courses in different fields and attending the seminars in different subjects helped me to become a more knowledgeable student and develop my point of view. During my education in the United States, internship experience was a great opportunity for me. Thus, I had the chance to experience the American education system both at my own school in Turkey and at the school where I did my internship in the U.S..
SUNY Cortland helped us become socialised as well. I had beautiful memories with the American friends and friends who came from all over the world. It is very valuable that we had great memories to the fullest. Our friendship, which began as we were trying to teach our culture and language each other, will last forever. So, thanks to the experiences we had at SUNY Cortland, we could speak English in our homeland where we have limited opportunies to practise English and we could keep in touch with our friends from all over the world.
Like many students at SUNY schools, the responsibility of being able to stand alone in another corner of the world had fully developed my character and my point of view. I felt that I grown up there. I am certainly very proud of graduating with dual diploma and having experienced American education system.
Although it is very challenging to pay the fees, meet the requirements of the program at first, once you gain experience it is worth to every penny you pay. I advise prospective students not to give up and benefit from all the opportunities provided by SUNY campuses.
Based on my own experiences, I can also advise them to ask questions to the profesors and coordinators without hesitation. You should keep in mind that they are all eager to help you. Whenever you want to talk with them about your courses or about yourself, they are all ears. All you should do is to communicate and check your mail box all the time!