I’m Huong, a freshman in Augustana University. I’m having the most thrilling and the great experience in my student life, and looking back, I still can’t believe that I’m now a part of the study environment that I always desired. It’s Cristina that helped me, pushed me and encouraged me to make my desire come true.

When I first met and worked with Cristina, I was actually far behind other students in the process of applying. I have only 2 months left to take TOEFL, SAT, write my personal statement, write the supplementary essays, ask the teachers for letter recommendation and a lot, a lot of others stuff to do that I can’t even remember now – all before the early application deadline. I was just freaking out, with no idea of how I will complete all of those things.

 But Cristina made me believe that I could do it and that I could definitely accomplish it successfully. She set the road map for me, helping me to navigate what I should do first, and what could wait until later. She gave me me writing tips that I’d had no idea of before and it turned out to be really useful – my personal statement was something I was proud of. She arranged meetings, the information session and the interview with representatives of US schools so that I could gain more experience and make an early good impression on the admission staff.

Above all, what I appreciated most when I worked with Cristina is that she helped me how to communicate with others. I still remembered that very first day, I wrote an accidentally rude email like: ” I need this… When will u do this for me?” She taught me the norms of communication America, and how we are expected to email teachers and employers there. This is going to help me in the future, beyond the college applications. 

These are just are a few things about Cristina that I wanted to share. She is definitely even better than that, it’s hard to explain. I’m really grateful for her help, and I love her a lot <3 and I know you will have the same feelings once you work with her.

― Huong