International students celebrate the Fall Semester

International Programs is bustling with 191 new undergraduate, graduate and approximately 47 English Language students from 42 different countries around the world. As they learned about our campus and community, International Studies and Advising welcomed them with a Picnic in Elmwood Park. The Welcome Picnic had between 200-250 participants, which included International Students that have already acclimated to life here on campus. The picnic included several volleyball games, bean bag toss, badminton, soccer and even ladder ball. Among the good food and games, there was sage advice for new the students. Loai Baloush recommends that the new students get involved. “This is a great city to live. If you just stay alone, studying and studying, you’ll miss knowing the people. You should get involved with the fun activities at the gym; they have ice skating, trips to the sand dunes, or backpacking through the caves. They even have yoga and dance classes. It’s better than sitting alone only studying. You might get depressed being alone. Go volunteer. Just don’t buy a puppy,“ Loai warns, “They are a lot of work!”

Advising has taken that advice to heart. September and October were full of activities for the students. There were two trips to the Henry Doorly Zoo, Joslyn Art Museum, Lauritzen Gardens, and a combined trip with YSEALI (Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative) participants to Vala’s Pumpkin Patch. In addition to those special trips, they offer Conversation and Culture Hour as an opportunity for international and domestic students to get to know each other over the noon lunch hour, while playing games and other social activities.

Tea with Jaisy is another opportunity to build friendships and process their transition to the United States. Tea with Jaisy is a support group headed by Jaisy Girija Kumar from Counseling and Psychological Services. It is held in the computer lab in International Programs, Arts and Sciences room 241, on Tuesdays at 3:00 pm.

International Education Week was celebrated November 18-21. The week was full of fantastic opportunities to get to know our students, staff, and engaging programs. The annual Gildersleeve Know Your World lecture featured Omar Torres Fernández, Dean of International Business at Universidad Anáhuac Xalapa’s, lecture on: Sustainable Development Goals for Higher Education: Universidad Anáhuac Xalapa. Café Internationale, our annual open house, hosted refreshments, music, country display tables, and international cultural presentations by IPD trainees and ILUNO students.