A teacher once said to Peter, "It's okay if you want to sleep in class, just don't bother your classmates." He had failed every single English test in senior high school! However, with an unassailable dream to pursue further study in psychology, he has overcome all obstacles one after another. Peter travelled to Taipei for the sole purpose of enhancing his English ability, and resulted in winning an IELTS scholarship, as well as been accepted to a university in Britain. Peter has now proven himself as more than the problem child his teachers saw him as. He said, "You are the only one who can ever define your life!"
A graffiti wall inspired him
"I always saw the wall under an overpass on my way to school covered by graffiti, all by the same person. Most of the graffiti were expressions of emotional outbursts. Every time he scribbled graffiti on the wall, it would be repainted soon after. And then you would see new graffiti on the wall the next day!" Peter's interest in psychology came from this wall. "Some people didn't pay it any attention, but I enjoyed it very much." I liked to study the graffiti he drew on the wall. I would stop there everyday to think about why he wanted to draw what he did. What had he been through? Afterwards, I wanted to learn more about how much an individual's behaviour is affected by his or her life experiences from childhood." Thereafter, Peter's academic path became closely linked to psychology.
"Learn and you’ll know how much you don’t know.” After graduating from university, Peter wanted to study the intricacies of psychology further. After considering the fields of research, the quality of teaching, and the satisfaction from students, he chose the UK to be his next destination.
Going abroad is the first step towards fulfilling dreams
"To be honest, I was terrible at English when I was in senior high school. I was so bad at English that I never passed any tests, major exams or pop quizzes. At the time, I swore that I would never go abroad in my life!" Peter, who used to hate studying English, started to develop his English ability in university for the sake of his dream. Apart from forming a habit of studying English, he also read research papers, wrote reports, or made presentations in English.
"At that time I simply thought that there were more resources in Taipei. After noticing the advertisements, I read the comments on the Internet to see what other people thought of it. Then I went north, rented a place, and concentrated on studying English" Peter said, "Unlike other cram schools that focus on test-taking skills and the test structures of IELTS, it places a greater emphasis on western teaching methods and allows you more room to express yourselves here. It also teaches you the test-taking skills for the IELTS so that you can be more confident later when you take the test." After four months of intense preparation, Peter achieved a high test score and won an IELTS scholarship!
One step closer to his dreams
However, Peter felt it was more important to adapt to life abroad than to acquire an ideal score. As a result, he even signed up for myClass in order to develop his English ability and to better to express himself. Thinking back on the first class, he laughed and said, "I'll never forget that I sat in the corner of the classroom on purpose. I was so nervous that my whole body was stiff. I kept stammering whenever I spoke English." Now Peter can communicate in English fluently and no longer feels uneasy when talking to foreign teachers." Here, you don't just leave with a high test score, you also gain the competence to think clearly and speak fluently in English." Peter noted that he chose the courses on IELTS to sharpen his thinking in English and test-taking skills in academic fields. Along with the supplementary conversation and vocabulary skills from myClass, he now has the confidence to take on any challenges in the future, both in academic studies and in life.
Words for test takers
Peter made his own breakthrough, transcending the limits that others imposed on him. His encouragement for those who are preparing for the IELTS is "Never ever give up, even when others give up on you!"