International Student Services as a Support System for Global Newcomers
Over the past several years, the United States has been one of the most prominent destinations for international students across the globe. America’s renowned educational institutions, global networks of students and professionals, and high-level research and innovation activities combine to attract hundreds of thousands of students each year.
Just like any other college campuses in the country, Missouri Western State University includes itself in the list of chosen academic institutions by international students from all over the world.
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When students arrive in the United States, they are automatically immersed in a very different culture, as compared to what they are used to dealing with back in their home countries. The intense feelings of homesickness and irritability that these students may experience — including the needs to learn different languages and practice different customs — can actually become an overwhelming challenge for them to get through their new lives in a new country, especially during their first years of college. It can also be a distracting factor while trying their best to achieve their aims and goals as a college students.
Despite this fact, there is always a support system that is bound to assist these students to pursue their dreams when they set foot into this country. For Missouri Western, that support system is known as the International Student Services (ISS).
The ISS aims to provide both incoming and current international students a social, cultural and academic support to facilitate cross-cultural understanding within the university itself. They also intend to help international students and scholars succeed academically and socially by meeting their special needs and engaging them within the American life and culture as much as possible.
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Just like any typical U.S. college campus, Western’s ISS has a large number of student activities and exciting programs that are organized for students who are seeking extracurricular involvement. Their goal is to create a supportive and motivating environment to assist international students in overcoming all the cultural barriers and assist them with any problems that they may have in the university and also in the country itself.
Some of these activities include on-campus events, off-campus involvement engaging with the local community in St. Joseph, program collaborations with other Western departments and also student organization occurrences.
Ann Rahmat, the director of international recruitment and student services, says that the ISS has proven itself to become a big help in supporting international students to get used to the new life that they are being introduced to.
“As a member of the ISS, I am deeply passionate and committed in ensuring students’ success while studying in the university, because I was once an international student, too,” Rahmat said. “The staff of the ISS and I challenge each international student to experience, explore, and learn from opportunities outside of classroom as well as active learning in classrooms. By providing several organized programs and events for our students, we get to do exactly that.”
Some examples of on-campus international student events include ice-cream socials, Meet the World networking sessions, intercultural festivals, Global Hot Topic lecture series, fundraising events, panel discussions, the Annual International Education Week and farewell and sash ceremonies. The ISS also organizes off-campus visits to places around town to give students an opportunity to engage with several local communities. The most recent field trips that they have handled as well, were visits to some of the local elementary schools to conduct sessions of ‘International Story Time(s)’ and a visit to Jefferson City to participate in the annual Study Missouri International Education Day.
Fumi Matsumo Cheever, the assistant director of ISS, believes that getting international students engaged outside of the classroom is just as important for them to be engaged inside of the classroom. She also holds strong to the importance of internationalizing the college campus in general, which includes the purpose to educate everyone in the school about being open-minded and respectful towards other countries that are present worldwide.
“The aim is to let people learn and appreciate the diversity that is around the globe, and not only in the United States alone,” Cheever said.
The events that are organized by the ISS are executed with the intentions to let the scholars find the ability to educate others as well. One example of a successful program conducted within Cheever’s advice is the Global Hot Topics lecture series, which includes fruitful discussions about combating stereotypical views upon multiculturalism issues around the world.
Besides organizing stand-alone events, the ISS also co-sponsors program collaborations with other important educational departments in Missouri Western. For example, during orientation week, the ISS affiliates several of its introductory sessions with the center for student affairs, center for student development, the center for multicultural education, the Esry Health Center, the student center of academic success, the campus library and the student government association.
Dr. Judy Grimes, the associate vice president for student affairs, always appreciates working with the ISS.
“It’s definitely a constant pleasure to work with them,” Grimes says. “International student services not only helps international students become acclimated to their new environment around them, but they are a rich resource in helping our university community learn more about the world we live in.”
Freshman Chayatta Thammarat, a zoology major from Thailand, is one of the very active international students on campus. She says that since she came to the U.S., the ISS has been a pioneer that has helped her flourish, ever since her first day coming to Missouri Western.
“During my first semester, I faced a lot of problems because I was going through culture shock,” Thammarat said. “I was dazed with the different education system, and also the new lifestyle, here in this country. I felt like I wanted to give up and go home at one point, but the ISS definitely helped me a lot. The members of the ISS have provided me the support that I needed, and the events that they frequently organize have made me learn a lot about how to get used to being a college student in America.”
By being engaged with the ISS and participating in several international student events, Thammarat had increased her performances both inside and outside of the classroom. She was awarded a certificate of achievement for having her work published in a university publication by the English and Modern Languages Department, and has also received the best designing manager award for the 2016 International Education Fair.
Having assisting students such as Thammarat, the Missouri Western’s ISS has been, and will always continue to become a stable support system for both incoming and current international students.
