Day-long orientation introduces UCLA culture to the largest incoming class of international students
By Andrea Barreto
Sept. 16, 2011 4:10 p.m.
Last-minute sessions of the New International Student and Scholar Orientation were created to accommodate UCLA’s largest-ever class of international students. During the sessions, students were broken up into groups with names of different foreign currencies and competed in friendly games and activities to encourage bonding.
In the weeks leading up to the new school year, a medley of conversations in different languages filled the courtyard outside of Kerckhoff Hall.
Hundreds of international students were preparing for a day-long orientation to a campus that, for most, was a continent away from home.
This year marks the largest class of international students to enter UCLA in the university’s history. A pair of last-minute sessions were added to accommodate the increase, said Bob Ericksen, director of the Dashew Center for International Students and Scholars.
The main differences between a general undergraduate orientation and New International Student and Scholar Orientation are a mandatory visa check-in workshop and information on acclimating to a new culture, said Jennie Woolf Weingarten, program coordinator for the Dashew Center.
Prior to coming to campus, three students from India eased into life in the United States by partaking in the universal college experience of searching for roommates.
Tulasi Menon met Shilpi Nayak and Ashwath Krishnan through a Facebook group for students traveling to UCLA.
“We took turns traveling to each other’s hometowns to meet before we came here,” said Menon, smiling.
Menon and Nayak, both computer science students, are now roommates living in the same apartment building as Krishnan, an electrical engineering student.
The Dashew Center works as a resource to direct students to specific campus departments, Weingarten said.
Though international students still tackle general college issues like housing and financing, the Dashew Center works with the New Student and Transitions department to have as little overlap with general undergraduate sessions as possible.
NISSO collaborates with several campus departments to cater presentations to the different issues the students will face as visitors to the United States, Weingarten said.
For instance, a segment by Student Legal Services addresses how students should handle legal complications ranging from driving accidents to problems with their visas.
One of the sessions included a talk on culture shock given by Yinghan Ma, a fourth-year English student from China.
Ma’s presentation focused on social and academic expectations based on her personal experiences as an international student. She used entertaining YouTube video clips and interpretations of American phrases to explain specific scenarios the students might encounter, as well as the role American students play in creating a comfortable environment for international students.
The orientation sessions tried to encourage interaction among the international students by having them participate in social activities.
Students were split into groups named after international currencies and then volunteers from each team were asked to complete a series of tasks, each under one minute.
With the year about to start, the most exciting prospect for many of the students remains the chance to explore a new lifestyle.
New Zealand native and history and communication studies student Anisa Purbasari gushed about college football while political science student Lily Wooles, also from New Zealand, bought tickets to an upcoming Kanye West concert.
“We just want to do it all,” Krishnan said.
Past international student orientations were encouraged but not mandatory until the required visa check-in was included in this year’s sessions. After analyzing student feedback, Weingarten decided to incorporate the check-in workshop into the orientation.
“Almost 1,800 students registered (for the sessions), which is about an 87 percent increase from just a few years ago,” said Weingarten.
Some students, however, felt the day-long session was too intense.
Anh Tran, a biochemistry student from Vietnam, said the presentations had too much important information to process in one day.
Because of the increase in incoming international students, Weingarten said the center will use student feedback from the orientations to expand some of their already existing programs and resources during the year.
The center is trying to raise $1 million to boost programming, relying heavily on private donations and corporate sponsors, she said.
