International Students
Life changes can be both exciting and difficult, especially when you are far from home. CAPS is here to provide support and assistance to international students.
What are some common concerns for international students?
Everyone goes through an adaptation process when they move to a new country. These are some things that can make this even more difficult:
- Having to use a foreign language
- Being unsure about how to interact with people in authority
- Not knowing how to make new friends
- Not having a clear idea of how to date people from different cultures
- Not being able to express yourself in your usual way
- Having to eat different food, and use different eating customs
- Being in a place with different religious practices
- Differences in educational systems
- Having people get impatient with you when you don’t understand things
- Having to deal with prejudiced people
These difficulties and others may lead to uncomfortable emotions such as feeling:
- Lonely
- Homesick
- Confused
- Helpless
- Overwhelmed
- Unsafe
- Unsure of yourself
- Incompetent
- Like you don't belong
- Angry or frustrated
- Afraid of the unknown and unfamiliar
- Confused about which values to live by
- Unsure of whether to stay in the U.S.A. or go back home
- Unsure of how to raise and relate to your children in the new culture
Added to all of these worries, you are also faced with adjusting to university life. You may face challenges regarding making career choices, academic pressures, studying effectively, and developing and maintaining relationships with others.
Counseling and Psychological Services is available to help students handle these challenges. If you are in need of services, please contact us.
Additional Resources:
Office of International Students and Scholars
Office of Wellness and Community Responsibility