An International Students Experience in St. Joseph, MO.
Have you wondered how many Internationals or foreigners are living in Saint Joseph, Missouri? People usually don’t pay much attention to the foreigners that are living in St. Joseph, including myself as an international student.
There are many stories from the Internationals who had lived in St. Joseph or are living in St. Joseph. One of these students is Wei Zhang, who recently graduated with a degree in computer science from Missouri Western State University. He is originally from Guangzhou, China.
Zhang first came to the United States from China in 2012. After his mother married his stepdad who lived right outside of St. Joseph. He has lived in St. Joseph ever since.
Zhang worked to get his green card for a year before joining Missouri Western State University, as that would help to reduce his tuition fees a lot. He just recently passed the United State citizenship test and received U.S citizenship, which takes away a lot of his immigration problems.
Zhang chose to attend Missouri Western as it “is the only college in Saint Joseph and the environment is good,” Zhang said. He also states that the tuition at Missouri Western is reasonable. He graduated from Missouri Western in 2019.
After graduating from Missouri Western, he chooses to stay in St. Joseph because “I got my first official job in St. Joseph,” Zhang said — and his family is here in Saint Joseph as well.
Zhang’s first impression of St. Joseph was that it “is kind of an old city with lots of historical buildings.” He also mentioned the Pony Express museum that is very famous in St. Joseph and that he has been there a couple of times. The Pony Express is where the mail went through in the olden days. When he was asked about what he liked most about St. Joseph, he mentioned how he felt St. Joseph is quiet and that the people in St. Joseph are nice. “They are much nicer than the people in bigger cities,” Zhang said.
Zhang owns two dogs; A beagle and a husky. He adopted the beagle from the shelter and the husky from his friend. He recommended a park named Corby Pond in St. Joseph that he usually goes to walk his dogs. The park has a pond that people can go fish at as well. He also often volunteers at the animal shelter that is located on the Southside of Saint. Joseph. The shelter hosts not only dogs but also cats, ducks and even spiders and many more. Many Missouri Western Students volunteer there as well. The animal shelter is building a new shelter next to Missouri Western on Mitchell road to accommodate animals in the future, and he hopes that there will be more volunteers in the upcoming future.
He said he would recommend a few places to his international friends such as the pumpkin patch which is a good place to go during the Fall season. During Halloween, many people will stop by to pick pumpkins and walk around the patches. Visitors can also shoot apples and pick their pumpkins. He also mentioned the shooting range that is located next to Missouri Western and Pigeon Hill Landfill Shooting Range to some international student who might be interested in trying out shooting.
During the Halloween season, he also mentioned that the 39th street is pretty interesting as a house owner would decorate their front yard into a small haunted house and open it free to the public “you can go in there and have a little experience of Halloween,” Zhang said.
Zhang concluded the interview by giving some advice to future and potential international students. “The tuition is good and affordable, and you can make many friends here and there are all nice. There will be difficulties communicating with others, but I’m pretty sure you will overcome that as it is really easy because you talk to people all the time and it is the best way you can improve your English” Zhang said.
Missouri Western State University holds a warm international family community that is open to the public where people can get to know about each other and know about various kinds of cultures.
Missouri Western Global Center holds a big International Fair that is open to the public community every Fall Semester. International students would serve various kinds of food, perform cultural performances and international students will take the chance to get to know people from S. Joseph. Also, many foreigners that live in St. Joseph come to help out as well.
