A Place to Call Home

By: Danielle Cort
Posted In: News

When asked what her family thought about her studying in the States, Natsuko Okochi, a Salve junior from Tokyo, laughed as her expression grew with overwhelming pride. Back in the day, it wasn’t customary for families in Japan to be bilingual. Not in the English language, anyways. Now, it seems as if more foreign students are moving from the comfort of their own homes and into the melting pot that is the United States.

As international students settle in to a new life, new home and meet new people, the fear and excitement of college life becomes a reality. Like other college students, those who come from abroad deal with dormitory issues, cafeteria food, term papers and GPA requirements. Their families aren’t always a phone call or a drive away, but they have each other and their school community to rely on.

Edwin Mutanguha, a freshman from Kigali, Rwanda, came to Salve on scholarship. With an older brother and sister who have graduated Salve before him, Mutanguha entered the university with high hopes. “I look forward to gaining an eye opening experience and networking that will help me in my professional career,” he said. A double major in Biology and Chemistry with a minor in theatre, Mutanguha keeps himself busy in hopes of one day becoming a pediatrician.

While education varies with individual schools in individual countries, Salve is seen in a popular light among the international students on campus. Mutanguha regards his education at Salve as a quality one, praising both campus facilities and faculty. “I’ve been given the opportunity to grow not only academically, but also physically, spiritually and psychologically,” he said, “unlike at the universities where I come from.”

With a close student-teacher ratio, Mutanguha believes Salve has efficient resources that help international students to reach their academic goals. His praise of the International Studies department and Multicultural Student Organization, otherwise known as MSO, is indicative of the opinions of other foreign students on campus. Many, however, feel like the international syllabus could use some revising.

Aside from classes, grades and the pressure to succeed academically, many international students face a transition in their college life that others do not. The language barrier alone when moving to the U.S. requires an extreme amount of attention. Often times, though, international students feel as if it’s the Americans that need time to adjust to a fresh face.

Yuri Nakazawa, a sophomore at Salve, believes that this adjustment is most difficult for American students and feels as if they aren’t particularly used to the concept of change. As more international students choose to study in the U.S., Nakazawa feels as if it will be the American public that will need to alter their perceptions.

Mutanguha also had no trouble making connections and feeling comfortable at a new school. “It was never difficult for me to fit in,” he said. “The American influence in our [Rwandan] media and youth culture back home is very significant.”

Regardless of where students choose to study, American universities seem to fall under high priority. And all the international students at Salve agree-there is no place like Newport in the spring.