TOEFL Might Just Be the Last of Many Hurdles: Jawad's Story | Voice of America - English
?I have always asked myself why people have made borders. Is it right that because my grandfathers lived in this land, it is mine and no one else has the right to live in it? Why do people want to get away from each other and differentiate themselves from one another? For example people say: ?I?m from Afghanistan?, ?I?m from Saudi Arabia,? or ?I?m from England? and so on.
Jawad says his love of education developed over a lifetime of struggling to stay in school, as his family moved between Iran and Afghanistan to escape war and discrimination, and fought to afford school expenses. ?Education is a gift,? he recalls of the times when he was able to attend school regularly as a child. Jawad says he completed most of his later schooling in night schools, learning computer skills and studying English. Since 2010, he has been applying to continue his education at a U.S. university. One of his major challenges is the cost. Jawad says he needs full financial aid, and although he was admitted to a university in 2011, he couldn?t accept the offer. But he also says he is having trouble reaching the level of English he needs to gain admission to schools that might give him a full scholarship. His English skills have waxed and waned as he took and abandoned jobs that required him to put those skills to work. His TOEFL results from last year were 483 ? not high enough, he says, to meet the standards of many universities. Jawad shared with us some of what he struggles with in improving his English, in the hopes that others will relate to his challenges, and may even have advice for other English learners like him who feel like they have plateaued. Here's what he wrote: What are your challenges in studying English? What advice do you have for Jawad or others who are struggling to improve their TOEFL score? Leave a comment and share your thoughts!