By Elise Crosley | ReporterSenior Akari Obu came to Waco from Fukuoka, Japan for only one semester. Obu said family and friends questioned her decision in studying abroad in the United States when she is so close to graduating. However, Obu has wanted to study abroad in the United States since she was a little girl.She attended a Japanese university and is, technically, a senior. She will graduate from her university in Japan in March and start working in April. Obu came to Baylor solely to gain new experiences and broaden her horizons. She’s taking communication, film and digital media,…
Author: Elise Crosley
By Elise Crosley | ReporterBaylor offers a few study abroad programs that are not specific to any major. One of these trips takes students to Australia. The trip is highly interactive, with most of the learning being done out in the field rather than a classroom. Students learn as they hike through the Daintree Rainforest and snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef. Christopher Wynveen, program director and associate professor of health and human sciences, has been to Australia a number of times. He received his Ph.D. in recreation, parks and tourism science and did much of his research in Australia.…
By Elise Crosley | ReporterHundreds of Baylor Bears go on mission trips every summer, but it’s controversial whether these trips are actually helping communities. While long-term mission work in another country is impactful, short-term mission trips and their influences are questionable.People often fly overseas for a week to build a well in an “impoverished” country, and most of the time their intentions are in the right place, too. However, even with good intentions, these quick trips may be hurting more than we realize. I experienced this firsthand when I visited a small community in the Dominican Republic called Chichigua. The…
By Elise Crosley | ReporterBaylor Ph.D student M.d. Kazi Rokunuzzaman left his home country, Bangladesh, for the first time in August and and began taking courses and teaching labs at Baylor. He is a teacher’s assistant in the physics department and has quite a heart for the subject, he said. “Dr. Howard Lee is doing really great work in Condensed Matter Physics, specifically in optics. I want to work in linear and nonlinear optics, and he’s been doing really great work. I wanted to work with him. That’s why I decided Baylor. I have a great passion for physics,” Rokunuzzaman…
By Elise Crosley | ReporterThe study abroad program Baylor in Budapest is unique from other trips in the way students practically become local residents rather than tourists, according Maxey Parrish, the faculty member in charge of the trip. Baylor in Budapest is a program for journalism majors to get real-world experience while also getting to immerse themselves in different cultures.“[We] produce high-quality work on our website, The Bundle Magazine. We do not do canned assignments from a regular course as in Waco,” Parrish said. “Instead, as they come to us after we arrive. We publish stories, photos and videos in…
By Elise Crosley | ReporterTransitioning to Baylor is difficult for some students, especially if they are moving from out of the country. Here are some tips for international students from international students transitioning into life here in Waco.1. Talk to people. “Talk with people in your dorms, classes and at events, especially the first year. Everyone is fresh to Baylor. You have nothing to lose and nothing to win. Baylor is such a loving community. I can’t guarantee all of your experiences will be perfect, but you won’t regret trying,” said Shanghai senior Jinni Tang.2. Find one friend. “Try as…
By Elise Crosley | ReporterClementina Akpomedaye is an 18-year-old junior at Baylor. She moved from Nigeria to Waco when she was just 16-years-old to attend college. According to Akpomedaye, the school system in Nigeria is different than the United States, allowing her to start at a university much earlier than American students. She said her transition was difficult, full of meeting new friends and learning about American culture. Born in England and visiting there every summer, Akpomedaye grew up traveling often. She has also traveled to France, Canada and visited the United States for the first time when she was…
By Elise Crosley | ReporterBaylor offers a free course for international graduate students and scholars to help make their transition from school to the working world in the United States smoother. The English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course is taught by Baylor student Qingqing Chen, a Ph.D. candidate from the Department of Curriculum & Instruction.“Many international graduate students are facing many challenges when they start studying and working in the States. These students may have learned English for a long time, but they don’t have many opportunities to use it as a tool,” Chen said.Chen grew up in South China…
By Elise Crosley | ReporterSome international students struggle with understanding their cultural identity and trying to find where they belong in this world, according to Baylor graduate Jamie Wong. There can be a tension between their home country and their new country of living, making it difficult to identify where home really is.“I was born in Norman, Okla. as the youngest of three siblings,” Wong said. “My dad was the pastor of a small Chinese church, so I was brought up knowing the love of Jesus from a very young age but also feeling the tension between my Chinese and…
By Elise Crosley | ReporterPamela Wei arrived at Baylor knowing no one but slowly made friends over time through her church and other events. Wei is a Baylor graduate student and part of the five-year accounting program that allows her to graduate with both a bachelor’s and master’s degree. She is also minoring in German and Music.“When you see an international student at an event, they already went out of their comfort zone to be there. Recognize that.” Wei said. That person has already made their effort to be there. It’s already hard for them. If you’re willing to, go…
By Elise Crosley | ReporterWhen international students arrive in Waco to attend Baylor, many are faced with culture shock. Each culture lives daily life a little differently, making transitioning to a new one a long process, according to Nigeria junior and Center for Global Engagement Ambassador Ndidi Akahara. Baylor’s CGE shoulders the responsibility of making these international students feel right at home when they move here. To make this process smoother, the CGE recently hired new student ambassadors.These ambassadors have many responsibilities, but a main one is helping during Global Bears Week. Similar to Welcome Week, Global Bears Week is…
By Elise Crosley | Reporter Most international students come to Baylor not knowing anyone, with their families thousands of miles away. While cell phones exist, they say it’s oftentimes difficult to find a time to contact their families, as they are usually on completely opposite sleeping schedules. Antioch Community Church provides “home groups” for international students to have a place to go and be with other students in similar situations. They are student-led groups located in student homes. They come together to share and eat foods from their home countries. After eating, they sit together and study the Bible, talk…
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By Elise Crosley | ReporterMost international students attending Baylor arrive knowing how to speak and understand English. Although it may not be their first language, they are still able to partake in the Baylor experience by communicating with new friends and learning from their professors.According to a national survey, less than one percent of Americans are proficient in the second language they grew up studying in school, even though 93 percent of schools offer language classes. Meanwhile, according to Pew Research Center, Europeans have been studying their first foreign language for years by the age of nine and have started…
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