International students may find adjustment to the University easier with the help of other students in similar situations.
When junior Pian Mo, a Chinese exchange student from Hong Kong, came to the University in January, an orientation and campus tour was mandatory for foreign students. The University also introduced Mo to other Chinese students to help with the adjustment.
“In the orientation, they helped us meet other people,” Mo said. “Some were from Australia and Europe.”
The University is home to 621 international students. Of the 31 doctoral students communications professor Alberto Gonzalez has graduated, about half were from another country, he said.
Some international students at the University had already spent time in the United States, while others had not.
“There were some students who came from another part of the United States and they were usually already used to the U.S.,” Gonzalez said. “Sometimes even used to the Midwest.”
Universities from all over the world have agencies or programs where students can apply to study in another country. Some countries that are represented at the University give scholarships to students to come and study, so long as they meet certain requirements, said Marcia Salazar-Valentine, executive director of the Division of Enrollment Management.
“Those students are funded by the government,” said, Salazar-Valentine.
Regardless of funding and their original home school, the University welcomes all.
“We said we will welcome students from that program. We submit our name as a University but we don’t select individual students.”
When it comes to adapting to life on campus, Mo said it’s not easy to adjust, but it’s also not very difficult. She said she enjoys the classes and professors at the University.
“I think the classes are a bit difficult because you need to understand the professors,” Mo said. “The professors are clear, but when they speak to the students they speak very fast and it’s hard for me to get it all down.”
Students who are coming to the University from another country need international groups and organizations to help them adjust to life on campus.
“There are a lot of student networks that are going to help through that adjustment period,” Gonzalez said. “The newcomers rely a lot on the existing international students to ease the adjustment period.”
Forming friendships in college is a huge part of being a student, and Salazar-Valentine said as an international student it could be tough.
“Imagine going to a place where you don’t know anybody; you’re going to try and find people who are in the same boat you are,” Salazar-Valentine said. “Your first friends are usually those from a different country. I am a former BGSU international student, so this is how I have found friendships that have lasted to this day.”
