Monday, July 26, 2010
International Student and Scholar Services is expecting 400 new international students at orientation, which is Aug. 8-13. To prepare for orientation, ISSS hired 23 orientation leaders, the largest staff it’s ever had. ISSS is hoping more volunteers to help with this year’s orientation.
Ashwini Shikaripur Nadig, a graduate student from Hyderabad, India, came to the United States alone in 2007. She didn’t know anyone here when she arrived. Luckily, members of the University’s Cultural India Club picked her up at Kansas City International Airport and found a place for her to stay before she found more permanent housing.
She didn’t have a phone at that time, so people in the club offered their phones to her so she could call home and tell her family she was safe. Nadig could also use friends’ computers to check her e-mail.
According to the International Student and Scholar Services website, there were 1,911 international students at the University in Spring 2010, which made up 7.54 percent of total enrollment. However, not every new international student has the initial support that Nadig had.
Saki Yoshida, a sophomore from Hiroshima, Japan, stayed in her dorm for about two weeks without Internet access before the next regular semester began. The international phone she brought from Japan was the only tool she could use to tell her parents she was safe. But she could not use her phone to make the international call every time she felt lonely.
Yoshida said her loneliness became worse while staying in her dorm with nothing to do. She wanted to chat with her friends back in Japan, but she could not access Internet in her dorm until she set up her KU online account.
ISSS organizes the You at KU international student orientation twice a year to help students adjust to their new environment. Internet access will be available in McCollum Hall’s lobby this year, so students in Yoshida’s position won’t have to leave the residence hall to get online, You at KU coordinator Anne Stahr said.
Beyond phone and Internet issues, there are a lot more things for new international students to deal with in their first few days in Lawrence. In order to enroll at the University, they must finish ISSS legal documents check-in, health check-in and Applied English Center check-in. The staff is there to help navigate the process, Stahr said.
International students will learn a lot of new things during the orientation: cultural adjustment, what to expect in American classrooms, banking in the U.S, and how to get involved on campus. Stahr said volunteers who would like to help out new students would be really appreciated.
Xiaojun Shi, a May 2010 graduate, said she learned a lot about American culture and customs during the orientation week. She enjoyed meeting new friends during that week.
Shi said the information she got in the orientation helped her learn to live in a new place. She later volunteered at new student orientation to help more students out.
“That’s very meaningful,” Shi said. “I feel good that I can help new students.”
Cell phone issues are always on the top of the list for orientation members. Vivien Chan, graduate student from Hong Kong, who has been working as an orientation leader for four years, said most of the new international students who attended orientation did not have cell phones.
“The first thing they want is a phone,” Chan said.
Stahr said this year they will have a cell phone fair on campus, but students won’t be able to open a line at that time. Students have to go to a mobile phone store to open a line. Stahr said orientation staff would drive students to mobile phone stores to set up their accounts. She said that process would work better if there were more volunteers to help.
Students who would like to volunteer for this year’s You at KU can e-mail isssprograms@ku.edu.
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