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St. Cloud State University
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International students speak
By Ali Kidwai
Published:
Monday, February 3, 2003
The year is 2003, the term is Spring and the place is St. Cloud, Minnesota. Any significance? It's freezing! No! Any other guesses? Something to do with a new semester? Yes, It is the time of the year when there are many new students entering the university, especially International Students.
This article attempts to take a holistic approach or in short, a simple survey of what international students think about the welcome they got at SCSU and how it met or missed their expectations.
SCSU enjoys a big international community, not only because of its quality educational programs, but also its reasonably priced tuition. That's why Anshu Suri, a graduate student from India, decided to come to SCSU.
"SCSU is affordable and my reason for coming here is due to the financial crunch factor," Suri said.
This comparably lower tuition fee often results in students getting a mixed or somewhat negative impression of what SCSU is like.
"I thought that SCSU was a below average college where they don't have many people and that's why the cost is so low," Barry Boubacar from Guinea, said, "but I was wrong in making that assumption."
SCSU doesn't only help with the financial burden that most international students face, according to several students, it also offers a wonderful welcome. This welcome helps new students settle down and excel in all fields.
"I was amazed at the welcome that I received at the university through its orientation," Naresh Keswani, a graduate student from India, said .
Other students were not impressed at all.
"St. Cloud State has a good program, but the welcoming program was too long and hectic," Dikshya Ghimire a student from Nepal, said.
According to many students, the university drags the welcome out a bit too much with repetition.
"The university, by repeating the same thing does not treat us like adults,"Adri Mendez from Venezula said.
Other students such as Manish Aryal from Nepal, Jamila Hasan from Bangladesh and Asmita Deshmukh from India had a positive approach and are pleased with their decision to come to SCSU.
They had expected the university to be a path for success, but their expectations were still too low as they got more than just an education. After coming to this university and a great welcome, these students said they had a positive start and were even more surprised and happy with the fact that everyone is helpful
This is unlike many countries, where you have to orientate yourself into the college environment.
The people from the local community, as well as the university organizers, put in a lot of effort to welcome international students, not because it's their job, but to make them feel comfortable so they can advance.
Marianne Manley works with International students and helps them get used to residential life.
"Working with International students taught me a lot about other cultures," Manley said.
St. Cloud has a friendly atmosphere because it is a big international community so the city is well acquainted with foreign faces.
"This place is nice," Himal Kafle, from Nepal, said.
Overall, SCSU makes a big effort in welcoming all the new international students.
