International students connect with valley
A new program at USU may help break cultural barriers to bring students from different nations together in a social setting.
International Student Council President Christian Orr said the program, Culture Connect, will sponsor recreational activities to help students overcome inhibitions and create friendships.
The program’s first event will be a trip to Beaver Mountain Ski Resort near the end of February, Orr said. Future events may include ice skating and soccer tournaments.
The type of interaction Culture Connect aims to foster will benefit and strengthen students and the community, Orr said.
“It will help our economy, it will help our research program, it will help develop our academic program.” Orr said. “It’s endless.”
Nicole Zhang, a junior from China studying graphic design, said she thinks Culture Connect is a good idea. Most of her friends are international students, but she said she does have some domestic-student friends as well. American students are friendly for the most part, but cultural differences can get in the way of communication, she said.
Zhang said she has benefited from friendships with Americans. She learned English primarily by becoming friends with American students and hanging out with them. She often participates in recreational activities with Americans, such as hiking or camping and taking road trips. The activities Culture Connect may offer appeal to her as well, she said.
“I would like to try skiing and snowboarding and other things,” Zhang said.
Bryan Mortensen, a senior studying international business, said friendships with students from other countries have enriched his education. He spent two years as a missionary for the LDS church in Taiwan, he said, and, since his return to the U.S., he has become friends with Chinese and Taiwanese students through clubs and activities at USU.
“To be able to go on campus and to run into people from other cultures and other backgrounds has given me a broader perspective of the world,” Mortensen said.
Mortensen said his friendships with international students have helped him as a business student as well. In classes, he said, he often hears how cultural diversity in a team setting can foster creativity and broaden perspectives, and friends from other countries may help him network to get a job in international business.
Mortensen said he wants to socialize with Chinese students through his involvement in the Chinese Club, but often the club’s activities focus on domestic students learning Chinese.
“That doesn’t really connect with those that already know Chinese,” Mortensen said. “We have been really trying to focus on that a little bit more.”
The goal of the program is to promote unity within the student body, Orr said. Rather than create programs to help either domestic or international students, the two groups should be seen as part of a unified whole.
“We keep separating the international students from the rest of the student body, and it’s not true. They are one in every 15 students,” Orr said. “That’s what we’re trying to solve. They are part of us. We are part of them. We are all the student body.”
Many students at USU have gained an understanding of other cultures in the military or as missionaries, but often they don’t get to know international students, Orr said.
“We have 91-plus countries with students here. We have missionaries who go to more countries than that,” Orr said. “I could say, straight up, that we have more domestic students that speak international languages than we have international students. That’s a problem, because they’re not connecting with each other.”
At the moment, there’s not an effective program to encourage domestic and international students to socialize, Orr said.
“You have to create a natural setting where they can meet together, where they learn to enjoy one another and their differences,” Orr said. “If you’re going to have students connect, it has to be (through) something that they love already. It has to be a setting where they’re naturally themselves.”
Orr said one problem the International Student Council has in promoting unity within the student body is a reluctance on the part of domestic students to participate in activities sponsored by cultural groups.
Mortensen attended the Chinese New Year Banquet and said he enjoyed seeing another culture celebrate a holiday, but some of his fellow domestic students may have a hard time leaving comfortable territory.
“I feel like in American culture, sometimes we feel we’re a little closed to the outside world in some ways, and we’re just comfortable with our own culture,” Mortensen said. “To step outside into a culture that’s completely different from our own kind of scares us a bit.”
Orr said American students should see themselves as part of the international community and realize they can participate with students from cultures different from their own.
“People discredit the United States as a nation,” Orr said. “They think, ‘Oh, I don’t speak this language. I’m not from this religion. I’m not from this culture. I don’t eat this. I can’t be involved with international students. I’m not welcome.’ It’s not true.”
Orr said students from all backgrounds are welcome to participate in Culture Connect.
Mortensen said he likes the idea of socializing through recreation.
“I think that’s a fantastic way,” Mortensen said. “There’s no other way to do it better. You have to step out of the box, you have to go out and push the boundaries a little.”
– steve.kent@aggiemail.usu.edu