2008 Woodie Awards
Malaysian student adjusts to U.S.
Kara Fordyce
Issue date: 11/20/08 Section: ARTS & LIFE
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There was no turning back, just moving forward to new experiences.
Lim said she attended Higher Education Learning Program University College, an 8,000-student school in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city in Malaysia, her first three years of college.
Through the American Degree Program, she spent the three years of her degree in Malaysia and is finishing with one year at NT, she said.
"People say that what lies overseas is always good," Lim said. "When I got to the U.S., I started my life from scratch. I wanted to branch out and get out of the norm I was accustomed to."
In spring 2008, Lim saw her first concert band performance at the Murchison Performing Arts Center. After seeing this performance, she told herself that she wanted to perform on that stage someday. She auditioned and played clarinet in the concert band and Green Brigade marching band.
Stepping out of her comfort zone, she is now a member of the Green Brigade marching band and a leader in the Malaysian Student Association.
Life in Malaysia
Lim grew up in a family of seven, with four siblings older than she. She said her only job in the family was to have fun and make them happy.
When she was 4 years old, she learned how to play the piano and electronic organ. She started playing the clarinet in middle school band when she was 13 years old and was selected as conductor of the concert band when she was 17. Her high school, Foon Yew High School, had one concert and one marching show each year, she said.
"I have been involved in music since I was little," Lim said. "Music is an endless topic. I can never finish learning."
Lim said she started speaking English at age 19 and couldn't speak in a full English sentence before then because she spoke Mandarin Chinese. She graduated from a Chinese elementary and high school.
"In the U.S., it is still hard for me [to speak English] because so far, I cannot fully understand what people say to me," Lim said. "It's like a duck trying to talk to a cow. What I can do is mix with more English-speaking friends and force myself to speak English."
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