インターナショナルオフィスのカウンセリングサービス - by Miku

１２月１６日の秋学期終了まであとわずかとなってきました。そろそろ次の学期に向けてクラスを選び始めなければいけない時期です。日本の大学と違い、アメリカの大学では自分の取るクラスを完全に自分で選ばなければなりません。たとえ専攻が同じでも、それぞれの学生が、それぞれに違うクラススケジュールをくみます。自分の好きなクラスを取ることが出来る良いシステムなのですが、学位を得る為に必要なクラスを全て自分の責任で調べて取らなければいけないので、大変でもあります。学位に必要のないクラスをたくさん取ってしまうと、お金と時間を無駄にすることにもなりかねないからです。このような事態を防ぐ為に、私たち留学生はどうすればいいでしょうか？
ミラコスタカレッジのインターナショナルオフィスには、二人のアカデミックカウンセラーがいます。私たち留学生は、クラススケジュールを組むために、そのカウンセリングサービスを無料で受けることが出来ます＾＾

一人目のカウンセラーはKhrystyn Pamintuan先生です。

彼女自身、コミュニティカレッジから大学へ編入した経験を持っています。その当時の経験から、編入に関してたくさんの知識を持っています！

二人目のカウンセラーはJose Orrantia先生です。

彼はインターナショナルオフィスのカウンセラーだけでなく、トランスファーセンター（編入に関する相談専用の施設）のカウンセラーを何年も務めています。編入のスペシャリストといっても過言ではないでしょう！

ミラコスタに通うたくさんの留学生が彼らを頼りにしていますので、予約を取るのが難しいです。カウンセリングを受けたかったら、出来るだけ早く予約を取ることをお勧めします。自分の目標に直線距離で到達できるように、このシステムを有効活用しましょう！

Use Counseling Service in International Office! - by Miku

This fall semester will end on December 16.   It means that we need to choose the classes for next semester.  Did you know that in the U.S. each student has to choose their own classes??  Yes, that is right.  Each student a different schedule.  It is fun to choose classes because I can think about what I like to do. But I have to complete all the requirements or I will waste my time and money.  To prevent to choose wrong classes, what do we international students have to do?
In International Office in MiraCosta college, there are two academic counselors.  We can use this counseling service for free.

First counselor is Ms. Khrystyn Pamintuan.

She has her own experience which attended a community college and transferred to an university. Because she also think about her future at that time, she knows a lot of things about transferring!

Second counselor is Mr. Jose Orrantia. He is not only an international office counselor but also have been working as a transfer center's counselor for many years. So he is a specialist about university transferring!

Because a lot of international students count on them, I recommend you to book as soon as possible.  To achieve your goal smoothly, use this great service!

Halloween Party for International Student - by Miku

Hello!

Last week was Halloween week.  I hope everyone enjoy their Halloween events.

I am a member of MiraCosta College Japanese club.  This year, our club did big Halloween night event.

This event was for all of MiraCosta students, especially international students. Also they invited Palomar college's international club. They provide free food; pizza, hotdog, and cakes.


There was a stage, so they did costume contest. Everyone's costume was really nice!  After the costume contest, DJ play music and everyone was dancing! That was so fun.

There was a special activity; Hunted School!
Many MiraCosta clubs helped for it. Before the event, we changed the campus to scaly one and prepare the actors.


The picture is our Japanese club's actors.
I tried this Hunted School, and that was so scaly. I screamed a lot. The actors' performance was really good.  This event was so fun! I enjoyed that.

My Classes of This Semester - by Miku

Hello!
Today, I will introduce my current classes.

In this semester, I am taking four classes equal to 13 units; CHNS 101, CSIT 125, CSIT 128, and SOC 101. This is full-time classes and typical schedule for me. 

SOC 101

Sociology 101
This class is Tuesday & Thursday 7:30-8:45, and the instructor is Mr. Brian L Harris. This is the most basic sociology class, so I am learning a bunch of topics like social structure, culture, norms, and so on. The picture is my notebook for exams.

The instructor is really good! His lecture is easy to understand and the class is so fun. The tests are kind of hard, but he gives us some extra credit opportunity and a lot of attendance points.

CHNS 101

Chinese 101
This class is Monday & Wednesday 17:00-19:20, and the instructor is Ms. Aubrey Kuan Roderick. I am learning the most basic grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation in this class. Because I am Japanese, I already knew a lot of Chinese characters, so I have an advantage to learn Chinese. The pronunciation is so hard though.



The instructor is also a counselor of international office in MiraCosta College. So when I have a question, I always go to the office and can ask her. She answers very kindly.
Her lecture is really fun. For American students, Chinese characters are completely new thing. So she thinks out a method or a way to teach characters.  This is my favorite class in this semester. I strongly recommend to take this class!

CSIT 128

Computer Science and Info Technology 128
This class is Tuesday 19:00-21:45, and the instructor is Mr. Timothy McLean.
This is a Microsoft Excel for business class. I am learning what I am able to do in excel.

I have never used Excel soft, so it is kind of hard. But his lecture is so slow and care all of students. Thereby I can understand even though I am not good at computers.

CSIT 125

Computer Science and Info Technology 125
This class is online class, and the instructor is Ms. Debra Savble-Thornbrugh.  This is Microsoft Word for business class. I am learning how to use Word. 
As I mentioned above, my computer skill is really low. I have used Word, but I just write sentences and save it on computer.  Now, I have been learning two month. And I can create the newsletter like the picture. This is my Midterm project. 


Even though this is online class, but the instructor gives us the video of lecture, so I have never feel inconvenience.
Online class is always harder than in-class class, but if I study hard, I will get good grade.