I have had many unforgettable experiences. One of them is studying for the TOEFL exam, which is deeply engraved in my mind. “TOEFL” is the short for Test of English as a Foreign Language. This exam was very difficult for me, because it was my first exposure to academic English. The numerous new vocabulary bewildered me. The reading section of TOEFL contains several academic articles of the advanced level. They read just like ancient bibles for me, and I had no idea what these articles were saying. However, I only had six months to prepare for this seemingly impossible exam. The tight schedule creased huge pressure, like a heavy rock pressing on my shoulders. I was feeling quite out of breath due to the heavy workload while preparing for TOEFL. In the process, I experienced a lot of failures. However, the TOEFL exam taught me not to be afraid anymore when I face challenges and encounter setbacks again. Instead of being afraid of failure, I will work hard, persevere, and get over the difficulties.

When it comes to the TOEFL exam, many Chinese students may have the same situation as I did. The feeling that TOEFL exam is very difficult is more than ordinary, because this is our contact with academic English. In a short amount of time, we are expected to have a good command of spoken English, competent listening abilities, effortless writing skills and the ability to read academic article with ease. Saying that this is a big challenge would be an understatement for many Chinese students. The first time when I took this exam, I did not have a proper understanding of the test as an entirety. I just blindly recited numerous new words, with the lack of practice in the listening and reading sections. I spent 3 hours learning new words, and I repeated the same steps every day.

I thought that if I could command a large number of new words, TOEFL would eventually become easy for me. The unfamiliar academic words from the reading section were like walls that prevented me from understanding the text. All I got was fragmented pieces of information. A lot of new words frequently appear in the listening section, too.  Day after day, when I memorized almost all of the several thousand words for the TOEFL exam, I felt confident about this exam for the first time. I thought no matter what comes in my direction, my grade would not be too low with the support of vocabulary. I was like an arrogant child, always overconfident in something that I had known. However, the first test result turned out to break my heart. I got a very low grade: fifty-seven points. I made so much effort, but the grade was not proportional to the efforts at all. As a result, I felt very frustrated. I thought my effort was futile. However, at least the experience made me realize that the TOEFL exam is not only about examining the vocabulary. More importantly, it emphasizes on the exam-takers’ practical abilities in English. Although the first round was pretty bad, which defeated me a bit, I began to feel more confident in getting a good grade next time. I thought I still have a lot of time to prepare for the exam, and the first exam gave me a lot of valuable experience, which gave me a comprehensive understanding of this exam.

Through the first experience of taking this exam, I realized that the reading and listening sections are the key points of TOEFL, because they are where I could potentially get high scores at. I regained my confidence and continued to put my whole heart and soul into preparing for the second exam. Although it was very boring to take mock exams again and again, I didn’t give up quickly. I started to try to listen and read academic articles independently, instead of blindly reciting vocabularies. I practiced for the exam over and over again. After all these efforts, I expected the second grade to be much better than the first. However, the result ran in the same groove. The grade was just slightly higher than the first time. I felt very frustrated again. I thought no matter what I did, I could not pass. I spent months preparing for the TOEFL exam, but the results were just disappointing. My heart only wanted to give up on this annoying exam as soon as I could. I didn’t want to let another poor result break my heart once more. However, my mom encouraged me to take the exam again. Although I was reluctant, I couldn’t refuse the encouragement from my parents.

In order to get a good grade in the third exam, I spent much more effort compared to the previous two rounds. During the period of preparation, although the process was extremely tedious and boring, I gritted my teeth with a fearless spirit to work hard on the road to the third exam. Finally, my effort was not in vain. I got a satisfactory grade. When I finally overcame this challenge, my heart was feeling so relieved and happy like never. My parents were also happy that my efforts were rewarded.

This is a very unforgettable experience in my life. Recalling the many failures and setbacks that I had throughout my live, I often had thought of giving up. However, the final success after taking TOEFL three times made me understand that when we face setbacks and challenges, we should accept the challenge bravely. Perhaps, sometimes we feel very hopeless about the result due to the temporary defeat, but we may just be one step away from victory. If I had not taken the exam for the last time, I would never know that I am capable of accomplishing this. Meanwhile, if it was not for the first two failures, success was not possible, either. This experience is not a stumbling stock for my life. Instead, it is a stepping stone, which gives me an entirely new perspective about how to handle setbacks and difficulties.