How do international students adjust to their new environment?

    Nowadays, there are more students traveling abroad to gain more diversity in their education and to experience an environment that is different from where they grew up. Many expressed contentment for gaining such invaluable experience and formed connections to peers that they otherwise would not have met. However, on the other side of the spectrum, there are students who struggle to deal with the change in environment and form meaningful connections. The purpose of this writing is to explore the different factors that cause these students to have a harder time adjusting to their new environment.
    Firstly, the cost of living inside the United States can be very expensive when compared to other countries. For international students, this poses a financial burden to their families as well as themselves, this accompanies the expectation that they have to excel in their education to make the best out of the money paid. Additionally, as stated by the scholarly article at South Texas University: “Most of the stresses among international students in an unfamiliar academic environment are family home problems, language barriers” (Oyeniyi et. al 2). The evidence above indicates how “family home problems” can often be a big stressor for international students which supplements our statement of the large expectation that is put onto these students to accomplish excellency in their learning. As a result, foreign students can often become overwhelmed with meeting the expectations of their parents that they seldom have time to pursue social activities and interests. Subsequently, this results in a less active social life on campus and hence, exposing themselves to less opportunities to befriend with domestic students and gain a more thorough understanding of the United States culture.
    Moreover, there are a subset of international students that want to stay in America after graduation for a variety of reasons such as better salary, more work opportunities or better cultural fit. These students would have to look for jobs during their college years, especially their final year in order to secure a full-time offer that can allow themselves to stay in the U.S after graduation. As such, the constant need to secure a job is another factor that hinders international students from branching out because international students could be viewing social activities that are not beneficial to their career path as non-essential. However, it would be from participating in non-career related organizations such as social organization, intramural sports, or hobby groups that are pertinent to international students having a positive experience to their education abroad. In addition, as stated in the Journal of International Student: “The areas that employers perceived as challenging cultural differences were international students’ interviewing styles and communication skills” (Balin et. al 1056). As stated above, one constructive criticism that U.S. employers have for international students is related to their “communication skills”, indicating that while international students have the capacity to understand and perform their task efficiently and effectively, they struggle to understandably communicate their ideas. Therefore, while international students solely focus on career path related activities, they are training their technical skills, but soft skills such as communication is extremely important in today's society and by participating in non-career related organizations, this could help them connect with more domestic students and have more opportunities to listen and practice speaking English.
    In conclusion, the two factors that were discussed which potentially have had a negative impact on international student experience studying abroad are the need to meet their family expectation as well as the constant stress to secure a job in order to stay in America after graduation. There are different ways that we can help remedy the situation such as raising more awareness for mental health services available on campus to allow students to vent out their worry and stress which could potentially lift some weight off their shoulders. In addition, raising awareness to the different organizations on campus is pertinent because by participating in these cultural groups, students can form meaningful connections. Consequently, these solutions would seek to make the time that international students spend in college more memorable and positive.

References

Balin, E., Anderson, N. M., Chudasama, S. Y., Kanagasingam, S. K., & Zhang, L. (2016). Working with international students in the U.S. and beyond: A summary of survey research by NCDA International Student Services Committee. Journal of International Students, 6(4), 1053–1061. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v6i4.335
Ahmed, F. (2016). Factors associated with stress among first-year undergraduate students attending an Australian University. Food and Nutrition Report, 1(3), 17–24. https://doi.org/10.24218/fnr.2015.13