Imagine yourself as an international student who just arrived in Happy Valley. You flew from an Asian city of 10-20 million people and you landed at a mom-and-pop airport with no town in sight. Your taxi meandered along a country road between corn stalks and beef cows. Finally, you saw a structure that hinted there might be a university nearby, but you couldn’t help wondering why “Lions” would play football in a stadium named for a “Beaver.”
The drive from University Park Airport to Penn State’s campus can be disorienting — especially for a weary student who has been traveling for perhaps 24 hours. But a new international student’s challenges are only beginning when he or she gets out of the taxi cab. Just how will this individual cope with a new academic system, a new culture and, in most cases, a new language?
Honestly, I can’t imagine how I would feel in that scenario. And so I decided to interview approximately 20 new international students during their first week in Happy Valley. Most of those I met — regardless of nationality or age — described a combination of excitement and fear.
“I have mixed feelings,” said one new freshman who was interviewed during her third day at Penn State. “This is my first time in the U.S., my first time outside Malaysia. I’m afraid I can’t survive.”
Said a man from South Korea, “It’s a big step to go into graduate school. It’s exciting, but I’m also worried about culture and language.”
And then there was this classic summary from an 18-year-old Croatian, an incoming freshman. “I have fear and excitement because of the unknown. But you can’t get lost in State College and, if you do, everyone will help you.”
“THIS PLACE FEELS LIKE HOME”
Despite the anxieties that come from adjusting to a new location, the internationals offered glowing comments about State College’s friendliness. In a community that revolves around good grades, Happy Valley got an A+ in “Hospitality 101” from the students.
“It is a small town but it is a good town,” said a new master’s degree student from China. “When people meet you they will say, ‘Hi’ to you. At first, this shocked me. In China, a stranger would not talk to others unless he has trouble.”
A similar comment came from Bharadwaj Ravichandran, a new grad student from India. “You meet people along the roadway,” he said, “and there are smiles. People are very kind. They don’t look on foreign people as ‘foreign.’ This place feels like home. It is home.”
Ravichandran’s countryman and friend, Visweshwar Srinivasan, expressed similar thoughts but with even more enthusiasm. “I am more than excited; I have transcended to the next level,” he said. “I thought it would be a social desert during these days. But I met so many friends. People greet you and smile at you on the roads. I’m starting to love this country already.”
Srinivasan was one of several hundred students who received free furniture during the annual “Garage Giveaway” that is sponsored by International Christian Fellowship and some local churches. “Those things don’t happen in India,” he said. “People here are extremely magnanimous. They don’t want us to feel homesick or secluded.”
Newly arrived from India, Bharadwaj Ravichandran (left) and Visweshwar Srinivasan are both thrilled by the welcome they’ve received in State College. Photo by Bill Horlacher.
“SOMEONE CARES ABOUT ME”
Penn State’s Office of Global programs provided guidance to incoming students in two waves — first the graduate students and then the undergrads. It was no small job to provide International Student Orientation for nearly 3,000 incoming internationals, but students gave high marks to the program. “In my opinion,” said Anh Ngo, an incoming freshman from Vietnam, “the plan for informing new students is really good. Step by step… they don’t rush it. It’s perfect.”
You probably think you can imagine what this orientation program looked like: tours of campus and meetings to convey university guidelines. But to accurately picture the 2017 orientation for internationals at Penn State, you’d have to include plenty of fun.
For one thing, students were divided into small groups — each with a blend of nationalities — so they could make new friends while discussing all kinds of innovative questions. For another, the small groups were organized under the names of professional football teams. Why “New Orleans Saints” or “Miami Dolphins?” I really don’t know, but at least I’m glad that no one forced unsuspecting internationals to identify with “Ohio State Buckeyes” or “Pitt Panthers.”
Although they find it difficult to obtain tickets for Penn State football games, the internationals were immediately introduced to key aspects of Penn State spirit. Imagine hundreds of them roaring together with “We are… Penn State”— an experience that Ravichandran said “gave me a great feeling of belonging and confidence.” And imagine kids from all over the world learning how to sing “Sweet Caroline,” Beaver Stadium style.
Simon Huynh is a native of Vietnam who has already lived in the U.S. for five years. But even this veteran of American culture put a high value on Penn State’s orientation program. “It is very significant,” he noted, “for international students to get used to the new place, a new home far away from home. They explained to us the symptoms of homesickness and provided us ways to find support. Overall, the international student orientation brought us the sense of community here at Penn State with a warm welcome.”
Simon Huynh appreciates Penn State’s efforts to help new international students feel at home. Photo by Bill Horlacher.
“PEOPLE HAVE EXPECTATIONS FOR ME”
Of course, some of the students expressed worries about their upcoming academic challenges. Said a Chinese man who is pursuing a master’s degree, “This is my first time to study outside China. This will give some pressure to me.” Said a woman who is a new freshman, “Participating in the classroom—that might be a challenge. I actually don’t talk a lot, even in China.”
But no one expressed a sense of school pressure quite so graphically as Vietnam’s Ngo. “I’m the first person in my family to study abroad,” he noted, “so many people have expectations for me, especially my academic work. If I don’t have a good GPA, I’m going to die.” Yes, Ngo was engaging in humorous hyperbole, but it’s clear that this Vietnamese freshman has every intention to excel in his studies.
Anh Ngo, a freshman from Vietnam, is serious about his grades. Photo by Bill Horlacher.
“IT’S LIKE A GARDEN OR A PARK”
And then I heard a wide variety of miscellaneous comments that reflected the huge diversity of cultures and personalities within this group of young internationals. Some focused on the appearance of State College; others commented on topics like food or weather:
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“This place is exactly what I expected from a typical American little town. I like living in this little town rather than a big city.” Ph.D. student from China, chemistry
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“The entire State College—including the campus—looks beautiful to me.” Master’s student from India, computer science and engineering
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“It’s an environment like a garden or a park more than a town.” Freshman from China, agricultural sciences
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“The habitat here is much better than I thought it might be. I see a lot of animals like rabbits, and someone saw a deer in State College. I thought it might be like New York City.” Freshman from China, landscape architecture
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“I’m just not used to this old architecture, bricks and stone. We don’t have that in Fiji. It’s really cool.” Freshman from Fiji, division of undergraduate studies
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“The food in (campus cafeteria) is good, but I think there is a lot of fat in it – beef, cheese, French fries.” Master’s student from China, biotechnology
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“I am getting used to the weather, but I am nervous about the winter.” Freshman from Malaysia, mathematics
So will all of these new internationals live happily ever after in Happy Valley? Perhaps, but probably not as happily as they are currently experiencing life here.
These international students are still in their “honeymoon” period, and they are likely to be a bit less bullish within a few months. That was confirmed for me when I talked to a Ph.D. student who is now starting his second year at Penn State. “I came from India,” he said, “and I came from the capital of India (New Delhi) which is very crowded. So when I came here, it’s a very small college town and the weather is great. But after one and a half months, you’re going to start missing things back home. So I think that’s the difference in experience after just arriving and what happens after one or two months.”
Of course, that doesn’t change the fact that Happy Valley is clean and green. And it doesn’t change the fact that Global Programs rolled out a lovely red carpet for internationals while townspeople added their smiles and warm greetings.
So if it’s true that “you never get a second chance to make a great first impression,” Happy Valley has done its job in welcoming international students during August of 2017. May those internationals still be singing “Sweet Caroline”— so good, so good, so good — many years after they return to their home nations.
