Navigating a new country, learning a foreign language and experiencing culture shock — these may seem daunting. Now, add having to be a college student on top of that.
This concept is a reality for roughly 3,000 Dallas College international students.
When 42-year-old Lidis Rea first came to the United States in 2021 from Ecuador, attending college was not in her plan.
“My idea was never to be a student in this country,” she said in a translated interview.
“I wanted to learn the language because I am a lawyer and there are many clients in the area where I live who are foreigners, so I said this is my opportunity.”
The move to an entirely new place, away from family, home and the familiar was more challenging than Rea expected.
“You leave everything, your family in particular…and I think it affects all of us ,” she said.
Larisa Olin Ortiz, associate dean of Intercultural and Global Student Engagement at Dallas College, said some of the struggles international students face are academic.
“It can be, at times, a little slower than the majority of our domestic students because you still have to navigate those additional requirements that you might not be able to bring from home,” she said.
“It’s the learning curve that might take a bit longer for some students depending on how quickly [they] can adjust and adapt to these new systems,” Ortiz added.
Making friends while being an international student is a tough challenge as social struggles can arise.
According to Rea, some students try to stick together.
“The foreign community [tries] to support each other, among the few we know, because you don’t have the opportunity in class to make so many friends,” Rea said. “We all have to speak as little or as much as we know English and we try to communicate and support each other,” she added.
According to Rea, many international students face challenges getting involved on campus.
“You don’t go to any of those places and you stay in your world, closed, because you don’t know how to express yourself.”
She said many international students aren’t aware of the opportunities presented by student organizations and clubs.
“Sometimes they want to get involved with things happening on campus [but,] most of them don’t know this information, so we try our best to get more people to join the International Club,” McDuff McSam Nnee, treasurer of the International Club at Richland, said.
Ortiz said the support systems international students have can carry significant value and stick with them years later.
“I was an international student myself. I know firsthand not only the challenges, but also how helpful it is to really build a network of support,” she said.
“Through my lived experience, sometimes those connections come through those experiences, whether it’s employment or leadership.”
Engaging with other international students can also be a learning opportunity.
“I know I’ve learned a lot from people’s culture and getting to know what their culture really means and not having a stereotypical mindset about other people. It changes our mindset and how we view other people,” Nnee said.
Above all struggles and challenges, the diversity and experiences international students bring to campus, Ortiz said, carry more influence to campus life.
“Community colleges have that very unique perspective and experience because of the communities that we serve…I think [international students are] uniquely placed to almost bring the world into these learning spaces,” she said.
