International Students Face Challenges In The United States
December 14, 2022 at 11:20 p.m.
By Micaela Eberly-
When international students leave their home country, they can face many challenges. As they experience language barriers and culture shock, they often need support from their peers as they adjust to their new environment.
According to Jean-Philippe Gouin and Sasha MacNeil in “Attachment Styles and Changes in Systemic Inflammation Following Migration to a New Country among International Students,” international students develop more secure attachments when they receive support from others.
Dave and Susie Hobert have been missionaries in France for over 40 years, and they have had the opportunity to interact with international students at Grace College when they come back to Indiana. Dave Hobert has noticed many difficulties people face when being immersed in a new culture, including a new language, new customs and new ways of thinking.
“Cultural differences can sometimes be subtle, and these subtle differences can alienate the new person in a new culture, cause misunderstandings and make the new person feel alone and rejected,” Dave Hobert said.
As Gouin and MacNeil’s research shows, one thing that can help people adjust to a new culture is support from their community. When moving to a new place, people can easily feel alone, and they might need help getting integrated into their new environment.
“I have seen people and groups reach out to new people in a new community regardless of their national and racial background, helping them to learn English, to get settled in the new community and to feel welcomed,” Dave Hobert said.
One Grace College student, Maxime Bregeon, is an international student from France. In addition to getting an education, Bregeon came to Indiana to play soccer, and he hopes to continue soccer on a professional level after college.
Because soccer is so important to him, Bregeon knew the team he played on also mattered. He said the team was welcoming, and the experience helped him transition to his new environment.
“The team was perfect,” Bregeon said. “I was directly a part of the family.”
As the program coordinator for the Institute of Global Studies at Grace College, Debora Wilhite works with international students like Bregeon. She is the principal designated school official for the Department of Homeland Security, and she works with international students as well as students studying abroad in other countries.
Wilhite sees how difficult it can be for international students to even get to America. The path to getting a visa can be long and expensive. Students have to prove that they can pay for school, and interviewers can be hard to please.
As complicated as the process can be, students face many more challenges after they get to Indiana. It can be difficult to adjust to the new culture and to constantly speak a new language, which can make students feel more alone in their new environment.
Wilhite has seen how international students come together and support each other in small but important ways like conversing in languages other than English. She says that even if the students speak different but similar languages, like Spanish and Italian, they are often able to understand each other.
“When they are constantly surrounded by people speaking a language that isn’t their native language, their brains can get so tired,” Wilhite said. “Especially in the beginning, they have to work so hard to keep up with the language. Having someone who can understand their native tongue is really helpful.”
Wilhite noted a new club at Grace, the International Student Family, that provides a place for international students to come together. It also allows them to share their culture with the rest of the student body.
“Often, what international students really need is to feel like they’re understood and have someone to talk to,” Wilhite said. “Whether they’re talking to other international students or any student willing to listen, they find that support in each other.”
Dave Hobert also sees how international students can be supported by other students on campus, and he knows it is an important part of their transition to their new home.
“I have personally known many Grace College students coming to study and play sports,” Dave Hobert said. “Most of the foreign students I have talked to have felt a warm welcome on the Grace College campus and appreciate cultural differences and the great education they are receiving.”
In the end, anyone adjusting to a new environment needs community support. International students can often find solace in each other, and having the native students help them learn the customs of their new environment can ease their transition.
When international students leave their home country, they can face many challenges. As they experience language barriers and culture shock, they often need support from their peers as they adjust to their new environment.
According to Jean-Philippe Gouin and Sasha MacNeil in “Attachment Styles and Changes in Systemic Inflammation Following Migration to a New Country among International Students,” international students develop more secure attachments when they receive support from others.
Dave and Susie Hobert have been missionaries in France for over 40 years, and they have had the opportunity to interact with international students at Grace College when they come back to Indiana. Dave Hobert has noticed many difficulties people face when being immersed in a new culture, including a new language, new customs and new ways of thinking.
“Cultural differences can sometimes be subtle, and these subtle differences can alienate the new person in a new culture, cause misunderstandings and make the new person feel alone and rejected,” Dave Hobert said.
As Gouin and MacNeil’s research shows, one thing that can help people adjust to a new culture is support from their community. When moving to a new place, people can easily feel alone, and they might need help getting integrated into their new environment.
“I have seen people and groups reach out to new people in a new community regardless of their national and racial background, helping them to learn English, to get settled in the new community and to feel welcomed,” Dave Hobert said.
One Grace College student, Maxime Bregeon, is an international student from France. In addition to getting an education, Bregeon came to Indiana to play soccer, and he hopes to continue soccer on a professional level after college.
Because soccer is so important to him, Bregeon knew the team he played on also mattered. He said the team was welcoming, and the experience helped him transition to his new environment.
“The team was perfect,” Bregeon said. “I was directly a part of the family.”
As the program coordinator for the Institute of Global Studies at Grace College, Debora Wilhite works with international students like Bregeon. She is the principal designated school official for the Department of Homeland Security, and she works with international students as well as students studying abroad in other countries.
Wilhite sees how difficult it can be for international students to even get to America. The path to getting a visa can be long and expensive. Students have to prove that they can pay for school, and interviewers can be hard to please.
As complicated as the process can be, students face many more challenges after they get to Indiana. It can be difficult to adjust to the new culture and to constantly speak a new language, which can make students feel more alone in their new environment.
Wilhite has seen how international students come together and support each other in small but important ways like conversing in languages other than English. She says that even if the students speak different but similar languages, like Spanish and Italian, they are often able to understand each other.
“When they are constantly surrounded by people speaking a language that isn’t their native language, their brains can get so tired,” Wilhite said. “Especially in the beginning, they have to work so hard to keep up with the language. Having someone who can understand their native tongue is really helpful.”
Wilhite noted a new club at Grace, the International Student Family, that provides a place for international students to come together. It also allows them to share their culture with the rest of the student body.
“Often, what international students really need is to feel like they’re understood and have someone to talk to,” Wilhite said. “Whether they’re talking to other international students or any student willing to listen, they find that support in each other.”
Dave Hobert also sees how international students can be supported by other students on campus, and he knows it is an important part of their transition to their new home.
“I have personally known many Grace College students coming to study and play sports,” Dave Hobert said. “Most of the foreign students I have talked to have felt a warm welcome on the Grace College campus and appreciate cultural differences and the great education they are receiving.”
In the end, anyone adjusting to a new environment needs community support. International students can often find solace in each other, and having the native students help them learn the customs of their new environment can ease their transition.
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