“International Campus Connections” aims at easing the first day stressors felt by international students. Starting the semester at a brand new school can be tough for many students, especially those who are from another country.
The idea would take international students that have been at the college for at least a semester and pair them with incoming international students to help them adjust to their new surroundings.
“The first transition to life at the college can be very difficult,” said Barbara Williams, International Education administrative assistant. “[The new students] can suffer from culture shock and home sickness.”
Patricia Donaldson, an International and Immigrant Student Services coordinator, came up with the idea after working with international students from around the world.
“We realized that sometimes our students come here for the first time from their home countries and it can be very different for them to adjust to the culture, the language and the college,” Donaldson said. “[The leadership panel] will help the new students to connect with the college and to be involved right from the first semester.”
During the first week of classes, new international students attended an orientation meeting, where the idea to start the campus connections program was presented and interested students were signed up.
“We got a great response with 18 students,” Donaldson said. “We matched them with members of the leadership panel that shared a language or had a close cultural connection.”
Williams said having a friend that speaks the same language at the college can vastly improve this new experience for an international student.
“Having somebody from their own culture and that speaks their own language is so comforting,” Williams said. “They can encourage the [new] students to get involved in clubs and invite them to school activities.”
Sima Agayera, a current student at the college and a member of the leadership panel in the International Club, said that the program has been successful in its first few weeks.
“It’s been going good so far, I have been hearing a lot of good feedback,” Agayera said. “We try to get them immersed in the social aspect of the college and hopefully inspire some confidence within them.”
So far, the program has helped many new students feel welcomed and supported at the college. Isabella Velez, a new student at the college from Colombia, said that the program helped her adjust to her new environment.
“They have been really nice, they showed me around the school and we had lunch a couple of times,” Velez said. “It’s nice to be with someone who knows about what you have been going through when coming to a new school in a new country.”
Contact Erica Aldridge, copy editor at ealdridg@jccc.edu.