Each of the past four years, an increasing number of students from across the globe have been enrolling at Furman. This year, a new program through the Office of Study Away and International Education is hoping to help them feel just a little more at home.
Called the International Connections Program, the new initiative pairs all freshman international students with an upperclassmen American student, called liaisons, who can help them adjust to life in the United States.
The most crucial aspect of the program is to provide each international student with a first friend at Furman, someone to show them the ropes. The upperclassmen liaisons are able to tell their freshman peers everything from the best places to study on a late night to what to expect from particular teachers, from where to buy dorm supplies to the pros and cons of going Greek.
The upperclassmen liaisons contacted their partner student before classes started and kept in contact throughout the summer, sharing about themselves and providing advice about how to prepare for Furman.
The day before freshman orientation, the liaisons and international students finally met in person at a program dinner held at the North Village pavillion.
Freshman Qinhua Sun, a Chinese student in the program who goes by the English name Jenny, said she was thrilled with her experience and loved her program partner Sidney.
“Sidney and I kept in contact through email,” Sun said. “She was so nice and patient with me."
The program dinner was full of smiles and similar stories of program partners becoming fast friends.
A few American students related that their international liaison is very shy and uncertain around them, but many of their concerns were characteristic of any first year student arriving in a new environment.
“They explained to me that some of their biggest concerns were not so much international concerns, but the concerns of any freshman,” said junior Annie Brasington, an American student participating in the program. “They were worried about the DH food, whether they would meet someone cute of the opposite sex, and if their roommates would be nice.”
In addition to helping international students adjust at Furman, participants noted that the program also gives American students the opportunity for cultural exchange they might not have otherwise experience.
Those interested in participating in the International Connections Program next fall should contact Chrissy McCrary in the Study Away and International Education office for more information.