By Giselle Lee | Staff Writer

In a progressively integrated global society with an increasing reliance on technology as a primary means of communication, it remains difficult to foster connection, especially for international students at Baylor.

There is a disparity between the global, surface-level understanding of U.S. culture and complete immersion in Waco. However, the Global Friendship Program assists international students in building relationships to facilitate a smooth transition to life in a foreign environment.

Katie Klingstedt, coordinator of International Programs for the International Student and Scholar Services team in the Center for Global Engagement, said the Waco community is eager to support international students.

“We just want students to have a chance to interact with more American and even Texan culture than they would get from going to their class and their roommates,” Klingstedt said. “Unless they make an intentional effort, they might not have much exposure to broader American culture, what life is like for someone who lives and works in a city in Texas, unrelated to Baylor.”

Klingstedt noted that the program’s mechanism matches international students with a family or a Baylor student, providing them with opportunities for additional exposure to life beyond Baylor through monthly meetups.

“International students get to see what public school is like or go to the high school football games of their host family’s kid,” Klingstedt said. “They’re seeing the other side of American culture that they wouldn’t see just being at Baylor.”

U.K. freshman Ebenezer Anene and South Africa freshman Myles Carlson participated in the semester-long program together during the fall semester.

Carlson agreed that Texas’ unique culture was something he had to adjust to on top of life in the U.S.

“The biggest culture shock for me was Texas itself because I’ve been to northern states, Minnesota and Wisconsin,” Carlson said. “Texas is a whole different ball game. I had to learn a lot of new things compared to if I went to school in, like, Iowa.”

Anene said he signed up for the program after hearing about it in a transitions course for international students and, along with Carlson, met with their host family four times, which included brunch, hiking and catching up over coffee.

“We talked about different things, from school to faith and everything in between,” Anene said. “The family we had were genuinely really nice people, always checking up on us during the semester, calling to ask if we had anything they wanted us to pray for about us.”

Carlson, who met up separately with their host family one more time during finals week, said they offered their home as a study spot if the Moody and Jones Libraries were too crowded.

“I asked if I could come over, and they said yes,” Carlson said. “I hoped that this next semester we would still connect, even though we’re technically not part of the friendship program anymore.”

Anene and Carlson, despite being well-versed in American culture thanks to social media, praised the program for not just bringing them closer to their host family, but also to each other, bonding over their shared love for the NBA.

Klingstedt shared that there are currently more hosts than international students signed up for the program, and hopes that the “low commitment, high reward” experience will attract both local and global Baylor students to participate.

“I think it can be very reciprocal,” Klingstedt said. “It’s a benefit for the international student, they get off campus, they get to know American culture; it’s just as much a benefit for the hosts, whether they’re a Baylor student or from Waco, to get to learn and have a friend from somewhere totally different than them.”

Anene and Carlson said the program is something “you won’t really regret” and appreciated that it didn’t take up too much of their time but did provide extra resources and mentors, helping them better understand the Waco environment.

Students interested in participating in the program can sign up through the application found on the Center for Global Engagement’s website.