Esther Gunel came to Eastern Michigan University from
Hong Kong 20 years ago. She was 30 then, older and more
mature than most undergraduates, but still initially floored
by the many things that were so different from
home.
Gunel had to find an apartment, set up an advising appointment
and figure out how to do her banking, and what to do when
asked for her social security number. She'd learned English
in the British tradition and it might as well have been
a whole different language.
 |
MAKING CONNECTIONS: (from left) Sierra
Hill, a
senior from Toledo, Ohio, and Kaitlin Miller,
a senior
from Perrysburg, Ohio, help EMU international
students Wnel AlSayed of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia,
and
Jeeva Pakerla of Norsapur, India (both business
graduate
students), with directions to locate
buildings on the campus map. Hill and Miller
work in
the Office of International Students, which
serves as
a hub to help EMU's international students
acclimate
to campus. |
She was jet-lagged and overwhelmed, but didn't want to
bother anyone and ask for help. And the understaffed office
of foreign student affairs, as it was called then, was
limited in what it could offer, anyway.
Gunel survived — and eventually thrived. She's now director
of EMU's Office of International Students, and able to
use her personal experience to help students cope with
the many challenges of studying abroad.
International students face all of the same issues that
meet American students when they go off to college — finding
a place to live, figuring out how they're going to get
to the grocery store, deciding which classes to take, etc.
But language barriers, different social norms, and a different
academic style, among others, compound them. At EMU, the
OIS maintains a delicate balance, providing an anchor and
nudging students out to chart their own course.
"We try to hold their hand, but not too tightly," said
Gunel.
Eastern Michigan typically has about 1,000 international
students, about 70 percent who are graduate students. The
OIS is their hub for immigration paperwork and the more
mundane aspects of studying abroad. But, it's also the
place where their student experience starts.
Jeeva Pakerla, an information systems graduate student
from India, said OIS is like a second home to him. It's
where he goes for guidance, finds out about events, meets
people and learns about other cultures. It also happens
to be where he works. He came in to volunteer one day and
found a job helping other students through the transition.
Though Pakerla's friendly, easygoing nature has helped
him adjust, certain nuances of American culture are still
very different from home. He says he's been surprised by
the hospitality people extend yet, when he first went looking
for a part-time job, he was taken aback by the frank, "no" he
received from one prospective employer.
"But, then they helped us," Pakerla said. "They sent us
to other places and I was able to find opportunities....
Everyone has a heart to help each other."
Though Pakerla says he's always able to find a friend
willing to pick him up at the airport at midnight, that's
the kind of thing international students aren't always
ready to face. The OIS picks students up at the airport
before their initial visit, and transportation is one of
the first things they talk about.
"I think they (international students) tend to be surprised
by how mandatory it is to have a vehicle and how difficult
it is not to," said
Julia Beaver an international specialist in the OIS who
organizes several van trips to Meijer for students who
want to shop. "A lot of them come from larger cities where
they can readily access public transportation. And they're
surprised at how far away things are."
An orientation program that includes frank talk about
sexually transmitted diseases, drugs and alcohol also may
surprise them, but it's important to take on those taboo
subjects, Gunel said. Opening that door not only conveys
important information about where to go for help, it sends
the message that students can talk about anything with
the OIS advisers.
Along with a slate of seminars and events, the office
hosts monthly coffee hours that keep those lines of communication
open. The informal, loosely moderated coffee hours
give students a chance to talk about whatever's on their
minds with someone on hand who can help them find answers
to their questions.
And, when international students' needs reach outside
the realm of the OIS staff's training, the office can refer
international students to specific point people in counseling
and undergraduate academic advising.
Understanding what's expected academically is critical,
since many international students come from countries where
the top students are the ones who copy the instructor's
notes and memorize them, word-for-word. Teamwork and analytical
thinking aren't always among the tools they bring to campus,
and the English they hear in the classroom may sound distinctly
different than the English they thought they knew.
To help students improve their English in a low-stress
setting, the OIS has started a conversation partner program.
It pairs international and American students who get together
weekly to hang out, enjoy a meal or a cup of coffee, maybe
play a sport — and talk. The international student gets
a chance to practice English and ask someone they trust
about confusing figures of speech like "What's up?" and "Would
you like that for here or to go?" The American students
get to learn about another culture and view their own from
another perspective.
Homesickness tends to crop up after the first four weeks
and, again, after the first semester, said Gunel. And a
Michigan winter can be shockingly long and cold for students
from Asian countries.
Of course, they can be shockingly long and cold for Michigan
natives, too. The difference — as with roommate issues,
financial issues, drinking issues and any other hurdle
college students face — is that international
students may already feel isolated, which makes them less
likely to seek help.
OIS staff tries to remind them they're not alone and encourage
them to get involved.
"We find that the students that are the most active are
the ones that overcome the culture shock and the acclimation
problems easier," Beaver said. "They have that outlet to
do so and know that they're supported, that someone else
is going through the same thing; and that it's not uncommon."
