Stanford University has a community of international students

Moving to a different location can be quite difficult, from collecting things, saying goodbye to parents and friends, to living in a hostel.Despite this, foreign students will have to get used to a university, a different country and sometimes even a different language. The international student community at Stanford University was organized to ensure that visiting students understand that they are surrounded by people who understand what they are going to go through.

International students make up 8.7% of all university applicants, so the overriding goal of the Community is to create a place where international students can get to know each other and othersAmerican students at social and cultural events.

“We want to create a helping organization to bring together the many freshmen at Stanford University who have come from other countries,” said Mina Lewi, President of the International Students' Society, who hails from Singapore.

Community Events

The international student community has already organized a BBQ and dinner featuring Thai and Caribbean cuisine. The event, hosted at Stanford University's main building, Old Union, drew a large crowd of students and a meal line filled the Ax and Palm restaurant. Visitors to the event were invited to mark their country on the map, the list of which stretched from Azerbaijan and Tanzania to Iceland.

The dinner was timed to coincide with the acquaintance with freshmen, among whom a fairly high number of foreign students, as well as Americans who lived abroad. The community also organized Thanksgiving and a trip to the Six Flags Amusement Park for students who had not gone home for the holidays.

“International students get to know each other in an orientation program for international students,” said Alex Akesson, who is an intern for the International Students Fellowship who is from Sweden. “Throughout the year, we would like to continue our acquaintance and maintain the established relationship.”

At the beginning of winter, the Fellowship plans to host a large number of informal faculty meetings and guest appearances, but the most important annual event will be organized in the spring, the White Plaza University Building Festival, which will feature a variety of cuisines from around the world. Festival visitors will have the opportunity to taste Chinese, Thai, Indian, Italian, Mexican food. The event is planned to present at least one dish from each country.

“We will get to know each other's culture through our cuisine,” Akesson said.

Membership in the Fellowship

Many students, including Jenny Kim and Carol Chao, are members of the International Students Fellowship for them it is an opportunity to get to know each other.Students can spend time with friends over fruit drinks and snacks at Community-sponsored events.

“We're just going to chat,” said Kim, who is from South Korea."Sometimes we go to the movies or restaurants together or just talk about our time at Stanford."

Chao, who is from Toronto, worked with the International Students' Fellowship last year and is now actively involved in their activities as well.For example, in November, she played guitar and sang songs with a friend at a specially organized dinner.

“We [foreign students] are all united by the fact that we came here from different countries,” says Chao.“We can discuss various topics, be it visa issues or any problems.Meeting all these guys was the best experience for me. "

Chao joined the Fellowship as a member last year by attending a series of lectures organized on holidays such as Thanksgiving.

“We can meet very interesting people who will tell us about their country,” says Chao. “We met cool guys fromNorway and Turkey, and they are going to tell about themselves.This is all very informative, becausemost of the students at Stanford are locals. "