Gain from InTALKnational Dinner

(Quora)

      As the UCSB Campus Profile 2018-19 points out, "UCSB's international students come from 79 different countries/regions." Being a board member of the UCSB International Student Association, UCSB A.S. Global Gaucho Commission, and International Student Advisory Board, I do believe it's essential to create a platform for all international students where international students can express their voices. With such a diverse UC campus, I think, together, we can make our home, UCSB, better! That is one goal of the  InTALKnational Dinner.

      The purpose of hearing the experiences of international students at UCSB (both positive and negative parts) during the InTALKnational Dinner, is to "help UCSB administration better understand what it is like to be an international student at UCSB and how they can better support the international student community."

      This was my second time participating in the event, and first of all, I want to say "Thank you" to those international students who participated in our event, and the staff from OISS. Being part of ISAB, and creating such an important event, I felt really moved to see so many people who actually care about the international student community. The term international student no longer equals the word "outsiders." At this moment, I genuinely feel that I am part of the UCSB family. By asking questions regarding students' academic and social life at UCSB, it helps ISAB and the OISS to understand the needs of international students deeper. The individual has limitations; however, by having many international students from different countries and backgrounds, the voice that people give is clean and robust.

      Moreover, through the InTALKnational Dinner event, I see the formation of solidarity among all students (both international students and domestic). For instance, the issue that the international student points out may also apply to the local student community. As such, by making connections and creating bonds, all student communities could stand together to solve the questions together. Through such a process, we could see that students can learn from each other more and achieve a better understanding of who we are. Putting down the hearts of all prejudice, together, we grew together.

      Lastly, in order to make the maximum impact of our event, the data that we collect plays a crucial role. Within ISAB, all members code each answer from the event according to effective research methods. Through such a scientific means of data collection, we try to find the trend and the pattern for each issue. And in the end, together, we will make it into a report, which will be presented to school authorities, to make sure they can hear us.