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contentsInternational Students at USC were provided with more pro-gramming offerings than ever before during the 2012-2013 academic year. In addition to legacy programming like Ori-entation, Thinking Globally, Global Voices and Internation-al Education Week, this year, International Student Services (ISS) launched the “Buddies

Beyond Borders” program where over 100 current USC students volunteered to help mentor newly arriving international students! ISS also initiated

the “International Graduation Sashing Ceremony” in hopes of turning that concept into a tra-dition every semester. For the first time in history, International Students were able to proudly display their pride by wearing a sash representing their home country’s flag at commencement. International Student Services now serves nearly 1400 interna-

tional students at USC representing over 100 countries. We will continue to strive to create programming and initiatives that help you succeed at the University.

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Orientation Fall 12 / Spring 13

Cultural Trips

PANASA

Omani Student Association

International Student Association

Association of Saudi Arabian Students

Iranian Student Association

World Night 2013

International Ed Week 2012

Fall 2012 Int’l Graduation

International Student Organizations

Indian Student Organization

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fall 2012

spring 2013

orientation

International Student Services welcomed 303 students to Carolina in the fall of 2012, which in-cluded 59 degree-seeking undergraduate students, 84 undergraduate exchange students, 148 degree-seeking graduate students and 12 graduate exchange students. In the spring of 2013, 80 students joined Carolina, including 27 degree-seeking undergraduate students, 19 undergraduate exchange students, 26 degree-seeking graduate students and 8 graduate exchange students.Students who participated in Orientation were able to attend various sessions during the day. One session covered all the important information to help students stay in status and meet all immigra-tion requirements. Other sessions explained various aspects of international student life, from how to navigate paperwork that can sometimes be overwhelming, to getting involved on campus and in the community to be an accomplished Carolinian. Students were also presented with useful aca-demics-related information on getting acclimated to the American educational system and being successful. At the end of Orientation attendees were able to ask questions to returning students, who shared valuable tips with new students.Orientation is always an exciting time for International Student Services as we welcome new stu-dents from all over the world and we get to start sharing some of Columbia’s Southern Hospitality with them.

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orientation

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cultural Folly Beach

State FairCongaree Canoe Trip

Hall of Horrors Corn Maze

Village at SandhillsBowling Trip

Ice SkatingCharleston & Fort Sumter

Riverbanks ZooCarolina Baseball Game

Picnic at Sesquicentennial State ParkCongaree State Park Hike

Pearl Fryar Topiary GardensCarowinds

Wal-Mart Trips

trips

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cultural tripsIt was a beautiful April morning when we ventured to Carowinds in

Charlotte, NC. We filled two minivans with ten students and three staff and began our journey. Even the two hour-long traffic jam

could not deter our spirits. Once we arrived, the mood quickly shifted to excitement. Students were eager to get in and ride

terrifying rollercoasters, water rides, and much more. The day was spent discovering Snoopy’s land, being thrown

about on the Ricochet, and being terrified by the In-timidator. It was a fun-filled full day that was thor-

oughly enjoyed by all.

Carowinds

Congaree Nature WalkOn March 2, 2013, ISS took a group of international students to the Congaree National Park. Because of the unseasonably chilly weather and high water levels, we were not able to go on a canoe trip through the swamp. However, the park ranger was

able to take us on a beautiful tour of the National Park. Seeing the swamp at the end of winter was a very unique experience. While

most of the trees did not have leaves, we did see some of the enormous loblolly pines that have their green needles year-round. The bald cypresses,

perhaps the park’s most well-known type of tree, had “knees” jutting up from the flooded grounds, peeking over the water like tiny stepping stones. The park

ranger explained how the cypress roots are partially above ground, hence the term “knees.” All around the swamp we saw trees that were hundreds of years old and shock-

ingly tall and large. Most of the wildlife did not come out until about an hour into the walk as the day began to warm up. Red-belly woodpeckers made noisy appearances, pecking loudly on trees in search of food. Among the browns and grays of the swamp scenery, flashes of red were seen as cardinals flew through the area, perching high in the trees. What started as a quiet nature-walk quickly was filled with the clamor of birds waking up and singing their daily melodies. Students took many pictures along the walk and were able to make fond memories of experiencing the beautiful scenery of South Carolina’s floodplains!

By: Binda Niati

By: Leigh Eleazer

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On a very spooky Friday towards the end of October 2012, two very brave ISS staff members took a group of students to the mysterious Hall of Horrors out in West Columbia. Frightening tales of the haunted location had been whispered between students for weeks, but we had no idea what kind of terror would await us. In the pitch black night we entered the hall, but quickly we were divided into smaller groups. We worked our way through the terror that is the Hall of Horrors, dodging maniacal clowns, witnessing hei-nous acts of insanity, mutilation, and decapitation. Shrieks of panic echoed through the haunted cham-bers as hands reached out from the dark corners to grab unsuspecting victims. Just as we neared the end of the hall and thought we were safe, we heard the gut wrenching noise of a chainsaw starting up. With great dread, we turned to find Leather Face holding the chainsaw, ready to sever our limbs in the most gruesome way possible! We sprinted outside and left behind the horrific ordeal. After surviving such a trial, many students got French fries and foun-tain drinks to satiate the hunger they had worked up from being so frightened. Then, with the relief of being alive, we boarded the van and headed back to the Byrnes Building, all students in tact with all arms, fingers, and toes accounted for. It was a night we will never forget!

On Saturday, February 2nd 2012, international student services took a group of international students to Charleston, SC.

After walking along the Battery and making our way to downtown Charleston everyone got to enjoy some Southern food.

We all met back and went to the ferry terminal where we took a fun boat ride to Historic Fort Sumter. We got to hear from a Park Ranger about the important Civil War events that took place in the Fort along with some interesting stories about Charleston Harbor. We then had some time to walk around the Fort before the boat ride back to downtown Charleston.

After a fun day rich in learning, we made our way back to USC on time for some students to go cheer on the Carolina basketball team

Hall of Horrors Charleston & Fort SumterBy: Leigh Eleazer By: Sylvain Chabra

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On March 29th, the ISS Director and Assistant Director, Jody Pritt and Casey Corcoran took a group of students the Pearl Fryar Topiary Gar-dens in Bishopville, South Carolina. It was the perfect spring day to stroll around and admire the spectacular gardens. The spring weather was equally as beautiful that day and some students used the opportunity to catch some sun and much needed rest. This was the first year ISS took students to the gardens and there are sure to be more visits in the future!

Charleston & Fort Sumter Pear Fryer Topiary GardensBy: Jody Pritt

Although the winter season in South Carolina is typically short and mild, there are usually a few weeks in January when the winter doldrums strike. To brighten spirits during that chilly time, International Student Services introduced stu-dents to ice skating, one of America’s favorite winter pastimes.

On January 25, 2013, ISS staff members, Casey Corcoran and Gabriela Gillespie, took a group of seven international students to the ice skating rink at Plex Indoor Sports in Irmo, SC. After ar-riving at the rink, they exchanged their shoes for ice skates, and were ready to test their balance on the ice. The first 30-45 minutes were packed with slips, trips, and clinging to the walls of the rink, but eventually, the group started to get the hang of it. They returned to campus that night with cold hands and a new found appreciation of ice skating.

Ice SkatingBy: Casey Corcoran

On February 8th, 7 international students took a trip to the Riverbank Zoo. Students had a blast exploring the large zoo area. One particular student was thrilled to see an exotic animal that was from their home country but they had never seen before. The highlight of the trip was getting to feed the giraffes that came right up to the students. They also enjoyed walking with kangaroos and getting to feed parrots nectar while they perched on their fingers and shoulders.

Riverbanks ZooBy: Tyler Macchio

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student

Indian Student OrganizationPANASA International Student AssociationBangladesh Student AssociationAssociation of Saudi Arabian StudentsEgyptian Student AssociationOmani Student AssociationIranian Students AssociationVietnamese Student AssociationIndian Cultural Exchange

internationalorganizations10

Indian Student Organization

internationalorganizations 11

Excerpt from Daily Gamecock By: Khadijah Dennis & Taylor Fontan

Article from The Daily Gamecock, Mar. 8, 2013

Africa NightPANASA: Pan-African Student Association

All 54 African countries were represented through songs, dance and cuisine shared throughout the night.“A lot of [our native] students don’t have family here. We want to be that family,” said Ekib Ekure,, a fourth-year African American Studies student who was one of the hosts for the event. Students were welcomed with a “home cooked” meal that gave them a preview of the night’s au-thentic qualities. Dishes ranged from Ghanaian bean dish to Allo-co from Cote d’Ivoire.Next, guests took their seats and the program began with a comi-cal skit.The night continued with the unique rythms of the African drums, and visitors were en-couraged to dance to the beat as if they were participating in a Ghanaian drum circle.Performers then told traditional stories, including one myth in which a village needed to save its queen with the sacrifice of an antelope.International student adviser Binda Niati was one of the coor-dinators for the event. Looking around, she said she was amazed to see the overwhelming crowd of guests that wanted to take part in the celebration of the coun-tries.

World Night

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International Student Association Photos by: Devin Pascoe

World Night

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Omani Student Association

Association of SaudiArabian Students

The Omani Student Association (OSA) succeeded once again in drawing in over two hundred people to the Russell house Ballroomfor Omani Culture Night. On February the 21st, following a number of events organized by the association, the guests were eager to attend the cultural night in order to discover more about the country and its rich culture. This time, the guests who had attended the same event in the past, were surprised to see that there was no stage where many plays and dances would take place. Instead, the event proceeded as an exhibition with five tables. The first one represented the American and Omani relationship where the guests could learn more about the history of the connection between the two countries in a political, economic and academic context. A few steps away, there was the fashion and cosmetics table where the Omani girls stood, dressed in their traditional attire. The girls also had some more dresses for the guests to try on in the photo booth corner. Additionally, the table also had some old-fashioned cosmetics: henna, oud, flower water, a selection of Amouage perfumes and some traditional lotions. The third table was the tourism table where the guests were provided with some handouts from the ministry of tourism. The guests were told how important tourism is to the economy of the country. The guests also had the chance to participate in some traditional games such as: Kubeh and Lakkad. The final part of the exhibition was the food table, which contained lukaymat, mandazi, sheareya, tea, coffee, dates and much more, all cooked by the members of the association. The main objective of this event was to educate the foreigners about Omani culture and OSA certainly succeeded in delivering a summary of what it’s like to live in Oman during the course of this three hour event.

By: Lujaina Al Maskari

Omani Culture Night

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Omani Student Association

Association of SaudiArabian Students

PHOTO

The Association of Saudi Arabian Students (ASAS) is a group of students from Saudi Arabia who came to USC to learn English and pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees. They have around 170 members.

On September 23rd, 2012, ASAS celebrated the Saudi Arabian National Day. Being away from home, they shared their celebration with the student body on Greene Street. The fair showcased the culture and tradi-tions of Saudi Arabia. The main attraction was the photo booth, which was a traditional Arabic corner. Before taking their photos, the visitors had to be prepped. In the women’s booth, the ladies got free henna tattoos with Arabic calligraphy and wore traditional dresses. The men wore the “thobe” and learned how to put on the “Shimagh”, the traditional male headdress. As they waited in line to get their photos taken, the visitors were served Arabic coffee and dessert. After that, the Saudi students handed out pamphlets and informed the visitors about their country. The topics ranged from history and religion to cooking and recipes. At noon, the Saudi students performed a traditional dance, and then played more traditional music and gave the Americans a chance to join the fun.

By: Bader Almandeel

Saudi National Day

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Indian Cultural Exchange

The Iranian Student Association was very active in the 2012-2013 academicyear. In the Spring of 2013, the Iranian Student Association hosted the Persian New Year for the year 1392. The event was held in the Russell House ballroom,where the group hosted honored guests President Pastides and his wife. Afterthe celebration, the Iranians awarded the president with a plaque that is asmall replica of the window art display they did for ISS in the Fall of 2012.During the event, as well as during World Night, the Iranians performed theBaba Karam dance. The Baba Karam dance is a fusion of three differentdance styles. One dance is derived from a Sufi story where a servant at thecourt of the king falls in love with one of the king’s girls. This is followed by asong of grief from the servant who is unable to be with the girl he loves. An-other one of the three dances is indigenous to Iranian culture and is knownfor its signature hand movements and slow circular hip movements. The lastdance is a collection of traditional hand-holding dances similar to round dancing which incorporates rhythmic and elegant movements.

Iranian Student Association

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Iranian Student AssociationBy: Maria Hosseinipour - VP

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2013World Night is USC’s largest cultural event, showcasing performances from every region of the world by international and local students. It is a joint production of the International Student Association and the International Student Services office. This year it took place on Satur-day, March 30th, in the Russell House Ballroom. Performances included PANA-SA, Iranian Student Association, Moksha, Omani Student Association, Indian Stu-dent Organization, a Fashionshow, Ban-gladesh Student Association, Swype, the Japanese Club, a dragon show, as well as Xin Yang & Devin Sherman performing an instrumental piece called Images of Chi-na, and Rajshekhar Sarkar singing ‘The Evening Blues’. Additionally the audience could sample food from an array of inter-national cuisine. A new feature was introduced this year with a polling service, that was used to determine the winner in three categories. PANASA won in the category ‘Modern Dance’, The Japanese Club won in the category ‘Musical Act’ and the Chinese Classical Dance won the category ‘Clas-sical Dance’. Verizon sponsored giftcards to various restaurants around Columbia for the winners.

By: Frauke Becker

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World Night is USC’s largest cultural event, showcasing performances from every region of the world by international and local students. It is a joint production of the International Student Association and the International Student Services office. This year it took place on Satur-day, March 30th, in the Russell House Ballroom. Performances included PANA-SA, Iranian Student Association, Moksha, Omani Student Association, Indian Stu-dent Organization, a Fashionshow, Ban-gladesh Student Association, Swype, the Japanese Club, a dragon show, as well as Xin Yang & Devin Sherman performing an instrumental piece called Images of Chi-na, and Rajshekhar Sarkar singing ‘The Evening Blues’. Additionally the audience could sample food from an array of inter-national cuisine. A new feature was introduced this year with a polling service, that was used to determine the winner in three categories. PANASA won in the category ‘Modern Dance’, The Japanese Club won in the category ‘Musical Act’ and the Chinese Classical Dance won the category ‘Clas-sical Dance’. Verizon sponsored giftcards to various restaurants around Columbia for the winners.

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Exchange Students at

Study Abroad Fair

The International Spouse Club (ISC) at USC was founded in February 2013 by a small group of spouses at USC with international backgrounds. Our mission is to help connect and become friends with other international spouses at USC, especially those that are new to Columbia, SC. We hope to make our lives in a foreign county, which can sometimes be lonely and challenging, more fun and fulfilling by joining in and creating various activities together. In the Spring semes-ter, we met once a week on Fridays to cook favorite dishes from our different home countries, including Korea, Turkey, Chile, France, and Iran. We also took a tour of the SC State House and had a picnic at a nearby park. We hope to diver-sify and continue our group activities by adding many new members and making unforgettable memories together in Columbia.

International Education Week

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This year’s International Education Week was a tremendous suc-cess. The week, starting Monday, November 12th-November 16th, 2012, offered a variety of cultural, educational, and social events that reached thousands of students campus-wide. We had volun-teers from several departments who came together and worked to create an amazing week of educational, fun, and interactive events. This year saw an increase of events to 30, that were well attended and offered students the opportunity to learn more about the grow-ing international presence in Columbia. The week began with the annual International Bazaar on Greene Street, from 11-2pm, where we had over 1,000 students in attendance. This year, we decided to have students compete as to who had the best table display. There were over 40 countries/regions and student organizations repre-sented and competing. Each display was beautifully decorated with pictures, art, and some even had traditional foods to serve. Judges unanimously voted for the Saudi Arabian student display as the winner of the contest with the Omani display coming in a close second. The winners were gifted with a gift certificate to local eat-eries.

By: Binda Niati

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International Education Week Thinking Globally

The Thinking Globally Program connects international student ambassadors with University and community audiences. These ambassadors present to first year students enrolled in University 101. They also present to USC academic classes on subjects that include public health, sustainability, and religion. Ambassadors also travel to local schools to present to preschool through twelfth grade students as well as to military personnel at nearby Fort Jackson. Thinking Globally allows international students to refine their speaking and facilitation skills, serve as ambassadors for their countries, and encourage American students to explore cultures different from their own. In fall 2012, thirty-three international students from eighteen countries trained to become Thinking Globally ambassadors. These ambassadors reached forty Uni-versity 101 classes, two USC Public Health classes, one USC education class, one student organization, one elementary school, and two Verizon Wireless events. In spring 2013, forty-four ambassadors from twenty-one countries reached six Columbia schools total, one student organization, and three USC classes. Spring 2013 Ambassadors interacted with fifty-five community classes and five USC classes. In summary, the 2012-2013 school year ambassadors reached 3,103 stu-dents at USC and throughout the community.

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By: Lauren Lowe

Graduation Ceremony

On a brisk winter day, thirty soon to be graduates gathered in the Gressette Room of Harper College for a sashing ceremony. December 14th, 2012 at 6:30pm, was the begin-ning of a new tradition at ISS and USC. The International Graduation Sashing Ceremony was developed as a way to celebrate our graduating international students. Giddy with anticipation and anxious for their new futures, students, family, and friends gathered to share in the laughs, the accolades, and the delicious food. The evening began with a wel-come speech by Alice Valdetaro, who spoke candidly about her journey from Brazil to the U.S. Yong Sun was awarded the Outstanding Graduating International Student award for his contributions to the USC community, ISS, and his research with electronic whiskers. Students who chose to participate in the sashing part of the ceremony were bestowed a sash emblazoned with their country’s flag to celebrate their graduation and their cultural identity. The following semester, ISS held another Graduation Sashing Ceremony in May 2013 for the spring graduates (pictured above). Mazin Al Masrouri spoke of the journey that so many of our international students took in pursuing a degree at USC, far from their home countries and families. The warm evening was filled with laughter and memories as our newest graduates looked forward to the next steps in their sure to be successful lives.

International Graduates May 2013

By: Binda Niati

Graduation Ceremony

Jody Pritt

Binda Niati

Tyler Macchio

Casey Corcoran

Sylvain Chabra

Leigh Eleazer

Frauke BeckerLauren Lowe

Director

Advisor

Admin Specialist

Assistant Director

Advisor

Immigration Specialist

Graduate Assistant

Graduate Assistant

ISS STAFF of 2012-2013

Bader Almandeel

Bora Kim

Ryan Lloyd

Sarah McClanahan

Devin Pascoe

Madison Mikhail

Leslie Pitman

Saad Bushaala

Internationalization Intern Fall 2012

Student Worker Fall 2012

Practicum Student Fall 2012

Practicum Student Fall 2012

Internationalization Intern Spring 2013

Student Worker Spring 2013

Practicum Student Fall 2012

Driver2012-2013

Gabriella GillespieAdvisor2012-2013

Casey Corcoran

Sylvain Chabra

Leigh Eleazer

Frauke Becker

Assistant Director

Advisor

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stay connected

International Student Services901 Sumter StreetByrnes Building, Suite 123Columbia, SC 29208Ph: 803-777-7461Fax: 803-777-0462Email: iss@sc.eduWeb: iss.sc.edu