Those Who Sit Alone: A Career As An International Student

Those Who Sit Alone

Alone. That’s how she spends her lunches. Nibbling at her peanut butter sandwich, which is missing its companion of grape jelly, and staring at an empty bowl, once full of promising soup and is now solely a resemblance of a void that cannot be filled, this girl sits physically behind a clique of students who have been in her classes for the past two years–all of whom can still never seem to remember her name–and sits mentally alongside the stars, which are the only things in this universe she (an aspiring astronaut) thinks can comprehend the solitude she too feels, as her life is inevitability defined by one thing: being alone. This was never an issue back home, where she was the president of her high school class and retained the highest grade-point average. There? Everyone regarded her as a significant intellectual and wanted to be her friend. And yet, in this …show more content…
Organizations like IGSO and IUS have made an impactful difference in the lives of many. students in some universities have grown to become much more accepting of the presence of international students (Aas). However, there is always more that can, and that should, be done. While there are many people who are very accepting of international students in their classes, there is still a stigma placed against them when they are forced to interact with others. Therefore, the aim of the educational community should be to remove these feelings entirely. Other efforts to create international resident clubs and societies have been effective in forming both a circle of friends for students new to the country, and in crafting a new support system that they can now use (Aas). The destiny of international students is ripe with hope, and one of the most important factors in pushing local student bodies towards this future is simply making them aware of the situation at