While receiving an education many miles away from home, some international students may feel uncomfortable at first; but, at Michigan State University some students and faculty believe this is not the case thanks to the large, diverse group of 7,161 international students who enrolled this past fall.
Many international students attend MSU to create relationships with domestic students to develop a diverse array of friendships each day because it is known to be beneficial to a student’s future career.
International student adviser Joy Walter said, “They're not just a student sitting in class that we totally understand everything about, we can always learn more.”
“American students know—you’re in college, it’s okay to just approach anyone and start a friendship,” said Walter.
“Michigan State is a university that has a huge diversity and I think I can meet and make a lot of friends here,” said Xinhao Yu, a sophomore attending MSU as an international student from China.
Yu said, do not label yourself and believe that an international student can only become close with other international students, domestic MSU students are open to different cultures as well.
Elizabeth Matthews, the Assistant Director of the OISS, said international parents and students are invited to the OISS pre-departure sessions or programs held in China in the month of June, in order to get acquainted with MSU.
Matthews said, “[The OISS program] gives a good emotional feeling and emotional connection to MSU for the parents and the students, so they can feel like this is a place that they want to go to.”
When asked about what advice she would give to international students Matthews said, “Be prepared to be motivated, to get out of your comfort zone, to meet as many people that are different from you as possible, and to realize that by doing that you are actually preparing yourself for a better job after graduation."
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