Challenges Faced By International Students In The United States

In the article, “Colleges Adapt to New Kinds of Students from Abroad,” Karin Fischer (2011) explains the increase of foreign students in U.S. universities leads to make more problems in campus and how universities are trying to overcome those problems and help foreign students to adapt to campus. Fischer explains the increase of the foreign undergraduate students due to the support from foreign governments. Fischer quotes Wesley Young, the director of services for international students and scholars at the University of California at Davis, to discuss that the increase of foreign undergraduate students especially requires more care and help than graduate students. While older students know what they need to do and what to do in U.S. university,

They have to face new experience and new challenges in their life when they come to abroad. The first year of their college abroad is a litmus test for them, if they have a positive experience they will stay but if they have negative experience they have to leave. I had observed the issues faced by the international students over here as they make their entry to new culture and a new educational system. They have to begin a new life in an environment that is very different. For example simple tasks such as going to grocery store where the language is different and the products are unfamiliar. The education system in India and Canada is different as in India, more focus is on memorization and there is no practical work but over here, more focus is on problem-solving skills and self-guided research. Majority of the students live without their family which is very hard for them to live without parents in abroad. Their parents sent them over here with a hope of their family

Why does international students tend to group themselves away from American students? What are some possible aspects that cause difficulties for international students to make American friends? In Karin Fischer’s article, she used the online questionnaire that professor Elisabeth Gareis conducted on international students in America to answer those questions proposed above. This survey’s result claims that cultural and regional differences affect international students to have difficulties when trying to make American friends. This research was conducted on various non-American students with different genders, cultural backgrounds and circumstances. Not even half of the participants responded that they have a good friendship with American students. Karin argues that students’ home region, university’s location and language differences took critical roles which made a barrier between international

As the widespread population of teenage international student body growth, many more promising and upstanding students came to America to develop their better selves. When the first year they come, the very different environment would be a challenge for this young generation of student who just left the protection of their parents and familiar teachers and friends. The adjustment of academic will be a fundamentally challenging for them in many different aspects.

Three ideas for teachers to support new immigrant students in a classroom will be images and games, friendly conversation, and the power of stories. When it comes to images and games, teachers should decorate their classroom or school walls with photos of diverse role models, including those of immigrants (Burnett, 2015). As a teacher, you should make sure your class is unique and comfortable for young students. When I become a teacher, I will make sure I decorate my class and make it colorful. Furthermore, I will have some type of diverse theme in my class so I can make all students feel welcome in my class and welcome by me. Now when it comes to friendly conversations, teachers should create mixed-student small groups. Students may feel

One of the most obvious difficulties for an international student is culture shock. Culture shock is the result of moving from an environment that is familiar to one that is not. Adjusting to new food, people, environment and

College level requires students to be prepared at all cost to face various challenges and learn how to overcome them before it affects their future. College also instructs students to a higher level of responsibility and management at their work place, at their house, and everywhere they might be in contact with people. As an International Students, I have had ups and downs throughout my journey in High School, and college, and I have learned so much from my mistakes. My first

International students at Georgia Military College (GMC) face a number of problems and challenges unique to their circumstances. These problems and challenges, namely language, financial and cultural barriers, are specific to the experience of international students, and compound the stresses and difficulties that they already cope with just by virtue of being college students. Without a specific study abroad program or supportive resources to aid international students, these barriers can be overwhelming. Language is the most important barrier to adjusting to college life as an international student, followed by financial difficulties, and, lastly, difficulty adapting to the dominant culture. International students at GMC face many, if

Students from different parts of the world travel to the United States to study. International students see that there is a wide difference between U.S. colleges and colleges in their home countries. Rebekah Nathan, an anthropology professor, covers the topic in her book My Freshman Year. Where Nathan pretends to be a student in an unnamed university in order to obtain knowledge for her research about college life in the United States. Nathan, from asking multiple international students, made claims about how international students look at the teaching system in American colleges. Claims such as American students behave disrespectfully to class etiquette, Professors in the U.S. are more lenient than professors in their home countries and that

However, the change from home to college can be difficult for international students (Mesidor & Sly, 2016). While some international students find it easy to adjust to the transition, others international students find it challenging to adjust to the transition (Mesidor & Sly, 2016). Studies show that international students experience many challenges as a result of language and cultural barriers, academic difficulties, financial difficulties, medical issues, housing concerns, food differences, alienation, homesickness, lack of social support system, racial discrimination, and cross-cultural loss) (Akanwa, 2015; Guzman et al., 2015; Mesidor & Sly, 2016; Sherry et al., 2010; Smith & Khawaja, 2011; Tung, 2011; Zhang & Goodson, 2010). According to Prieto-Welch (2016), international students as a group are regarded as a main minority population in campuses

Being an international student poses a lot of challenges in blending in with the other students. Joining University changed my life from a period of being popular in my country as I had made many friends at school and in the neighborhood and I was engrossed in the popularity lifestyle. After a month in university, I felt lonely and judged, and I did not manage to make any friends. People claimed that I was proud for I was bright, had a lot of money and I was trendy which is what I learned later on. I spent my time in the library in order to end the day and the weekends. One day the guy who lives next door challenge me to attend their Christian fellowship meeting. That meeting changed my feel about believes as I got an interest in discovering religious practices. I also felt comfortable as the people were very friendly. From that day, I was able to make friends, and I even got the confidence to start interacting with people outside the Christian circle. I developed a desired to grow my spiritual journey as I learned that that was the road to interacting well with other people. This made me understand why my parents were successful in building community relationships as the religious practice allowed them to be regarded as trustworthy and gave them a place of interaction with other community members.

Being international student studying in the USA, is a great mistake to think that America is the most perfect country and everyone in America is wealthy. Not only do most people who are not US think all Americans are rich, we also think that the government is rich in making very few mistakes. Unfortunately for the US, this is not true. Perceptions of people in truth are not always the same. Currently America is suffering a crisis of economic debt and are having trouble to rescue itself due to several different, such as the military, banks and educational system aspects.

The United States of America in the eyes of the world is a place full of dreams, full of hope and a place where civil liberties are being uphold. People of all different background, different social and financial status flock to America for various reason. Some people come to America to escape religious and political persecutions; some come to escape the horrors of war; some come to find a better life for their family; and many more will come for a better education. From the depictions of Hollywood, pop-cultural and the tiny sections that are shown on the media, the world sees the American educational system as the best in the world. With diverse student population, friendly faculty and staff, the latest technology, and the most resources available to its student, America is the place to study. International students with full excitement pack their suitcases and say goodbye to their families; however what lies ahead of them is not the glamor that the media portrays, but rather harsh discrimination that comes from negative stereotypes await them.

“In 2006 to 2007, according to the data compiled by the Institute of International Education, 582,984 students from all over the world were enrolled in American colleges and universities in a wide range of fields” (Carter, Paragraph 2, 2008). The United States has the highest number of students who are coming to study abroad than any other countries. Each year, the number of international students coming to the United States to obtain degrees is increasing by thousands, and home countries of these students are primarily India, China and Korea, all located in the whole different continent. But what are the motives of students who are crossing the sea to study? Their goal of studying abroad is to experience diversity and to adapt attitudes

International students face many different challenges when studying abroad. This is due to many factors. First, they are living in a country very far away from their own. The country they are studying at has a very different way of life than theirs. Further more, the laws in that country are much different than the laws in their own country. Due to that they face a lot of problems trying to adapt to this new culture. Me personally as an international student in the US studying at ASU, have faced three particularly difficult challenges that I was able to overcome through time. In this essay I will explain how international students can overcome tough challenges and situations.