Life as an International Student at Troy University

By W. Jay Bowdoin on November 5, 2017

Image via Troy University

Ten percent of Troy University’s student population is comprised of people from countries outside of the United States. Every year, hundreds of international students make the long journey to lower Alabama for education and cultural exposure.

These students often come seeking the benefits of the American college system.

“I like the environment. I like the school, the way they do things. I like the classes,” said Jerome Udeoji, a sophomore computer science major from Lagos, Nigeria. ”In Nigeria, they don’t really give us lots of assignments, and we don’t use computers in class to do assignments. We have like a hundred to two hundred people in the class and most of the time people don’t make good grades due to the numbers of people in classes.”

Yet along with these benefits come certain pitfalls. Often, these students come to America without a good understanding of the English language, which can make interaction with other students difficult.

“I was afraid to speak to foreigners and to American students because I’m afraid to speak wrong,” said Xixi Xiao, a senior theatre major from Guangdong, China.

These problems persist beyond first meetings. As relationships with people deepen so does the language requirement.

“I think it’s good when I talk with American friends,” said Qiao, a freshman sports management major from Lingbao, China. “But now I think it’s hard as time passed the topic we talk about will get deeper and deeper so the conversation needs more vocabulary and grammar so I think it’s a little bit harder.”

For many students, learning English is the top priority while they’re in school, yet they often have trouble speaking with their American counterparts.

“Sometimes when internationals come here, they’re scared, and so instead of being willing to reach out and make friends here, they tend to stay within their own group,” said Richard Skinner, a Troy University campus minister.

Often international students stick together due to cultural similarities.

“When you’re an international student, you’re like abroad away from your family,” said Vincent Rosec, a Troy University alumnus from Normandy, France. “You’re sharing that experience with other people who just happen to also be international students. You can just like compare everything to home.”

This separation can also happen due to a lack of transportation. Unlike American students, international students usually don’t have cars.

“They come here, and it’s difficult to get around town,” Skinner said. “The school does provide busses, but I know that’s a difficult thing for them to afford a car. Traveling trying to get things done can sometimes be difficult.”

This leads to holidays and sometimes entire semesters confined to campus. Often during these periods, the only other people around are other international students.

 ”Being away from home being in a new environment, they face a lot of loneliness,” said Liz Nowling, a senior anthropology major from Ashford Alabama. “Sometimes it’s hard to make American friends. They sometimes want the Americans to make the first step which is sometimes hard. As Americans, we don’t often think about making the first step. They’re just like us, they just want friendship.”

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