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What it's like to be aninternational student at KU
Posted: Tuesday, July 5, 2016 8:10 pm
Ryan Wright | @ryanwaynewright
Every year,thousands ofstudents from all
over the world travel to the United Statesto continue their education at theUniversity. Going to a new country for thefirst time isn't the easiest thing in the world,and international students have manyadjustments to make. But beyondadjusting to the culture of Lawrence, manystudents say they just want to make anAmerican friend.
According to Charles Olcese, the directorof International Student Services,international students tend to rank makingan American friend very highly in theirincoming goals.
"That’s why they came to the U.S. Theycould go to University in their own countryor in a similar country, but they came tothe U.S. because they wanted to have an
American experience. They wanted to get to know America," he said.
Kunal Karnik, a senior from Mumbai, said some international students go out of theirway to make American friends.
"I have some friends who don’t want to talk to other Indians because they feel theyare out of India now and they shouldn’t be hanging out with Indians," Karnik said.
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Kunal Karnik, an incoming senior. Karnik is from Mumbai, India.
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Posted on Jul 5, 2016by Ryan Wright
9/21/2016 What it's like to be an international student at KU - The University Daily Kansan: News
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Karnik was 17 when he arrived in Lawrence, and with no family in town, he wasforced to put himself out there and make friends.
"My family wasn’t here, my entire support system was my friends. So I had to make alot of friends fast," Karnik said.
However, making an American friend is not a goal that's always attainable. Olcesesaid he believes it's partly because domestic students aren't great hosts. He said hedoesn't think American students approach hosting as something important and shouldtake initiative.
"Part of being a good host is taking the initiative and making people feel comfortable,"Olcese said. "They are probably more eager to want to be your friend than you are inreaching out, because that’s really valuable experience for them."
Because of these barriers, international students may choose to spend their free timewith other international students from the same or a similar country.
"International students are more quiet, they just stay in their group of friends that arefrom the same country. I feel like it’s easier for us to make friends like that," YupapornKawinpakorn, a 2016 graduate, said. Kawinpakorn is from Samut Prakan, Thailandand is a former member of the University's women's golf team.
Kawinpakorn said she struggled with English when she arrived, which made it harderfor her to make friends and do her classwork.
"I remember when I first got here my English wasn’t that great and I couldn’t catchwhat they [professors] said, exactly," Kawinpakorn said.
After she got into the groove of the semester and her English improved, Kawinpakornsaid she became confident and began to make friends.
"It’s hard at first because I was shy to speak and I didn’t have a lot of friends. Now I’mgood, I have a lot of friends now," she said.
However, making friends isn't the only challenge international students face when theyarrive on campus. As one can expect, it takes time for many students to get adjustedto Lawrence. According to Olcese, it's an easier adjustment during the fall semesterthan it is for students who start in the summer.
"I always feel sorry for international students who start in the summer term becauseit’s so vastly different than they expected. It's very different from what they get whenfall starts," Olcese said.
This is similar to what Karnik experienced when he first arrived in Lawrence. Hewanted to arrive in Lawrence a couple weeks before school started so he could adjustto the city. Before getting to Lawrence, he had a layover in Chicago at the O'HareInternational Airport and the first thing he saw in America was an overhead view ofChicago.
He arrived in Lawrence in the middle of the day and no one was around. This is notwhat Karnik expected, being from such a densely populated city like Mumbai.
"Being from Mumbai, you look in one direction you see at least a hundred people,"Karnik said. "It just felt like a ghost town. Frankly, I was scared. I was like 'Where amI? This does not feel like Chicago.'"
Money can also be an issue for international students. They pay nonresident fees,which are typically about three or more times the resident fee. And they often don’thave the same access to financial aid options because only citizens can get loans orgrants from the U.S. government. Unless students have a program from their homecountry, they often times pay full rate, according to Olcese.
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This can also factor into how many times a student can visit home, if ever. A goodnumber of international students don't go back home during their time at KU, whilesome go back once or twice a year. Karnik falls in the latter group and visits India atleast once a year.
His younger sister was 11 when he left for school in 2013, and while he enjoys goingback home to visit family, he's disappointed he wasn't there to to see his sister growup.
"My sister grew up really fast and I missed all of that. That’s the only part that getsme," Karnik said. “I went back for 15 days recently [...] and sometimes she justmessages me 'What’s that? Who comes for 15 days?' and whenever you look at thatit’s just like now I feel bad [...] it gets you on the inside.”
Despite struggles, Karnik said his overall experience at the University has been goodand he enjoys the collegetown environment of Lawrence.
"So far I’d make this decision again," he said.
Posted in News, Student Life, Culture on Tuesday, July 5, 2016 8:10 pm.
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