“I only have international friends,” said Ronia Herghilijiu, a German exchange student.
In the adjustment process, finding friends is an important factor as comradery can often make the transition to new environments easier for individuals to adjust. International students who come far from home are often starting fresh in this process.
Friends are crucial when adjusting to a new school as they can provide emotional support, help individuals navigate through hardships and help celebrate accomplishments.
“As an international student, it is kind of easier to have connections with other exchange students,” Jinsoo Lee, a Korean student, said.
“I got to know like five or six French students,” Niousha Le Bagousse, a French exchange student added.
Lee and La Bagousse each find themselves in situations where they are in a new country but surrounded by people from their home country.
Lee feels that many students on campus already have their defined friend groups, so it can often be challenging to find students open to making new friends.
“If you have a big friend group, why would you need more friends?” Herghilijiu said.
With that, a hunt begins to find the students who might not have these friend groups coming into college. This takes many non-international students off the table for potential friendships. As a solution, many international students lean on one another to make connections.
Language barriers are also a factor that can come into play.
“If you go around with Germans, you tend to speak in your mother language, so you don’t connect with the other ones as much,” Herghilijiu said.
Herghilijiu is not alone in this statement. “I think that it is easier to make friends with French people because they share my first language,” La Bagousse said.
SDSU’s International Student Center (ISC) offers students events that reflect the value of meeting other international students. The ISC offers opportunities for students to share their own cultures as well as learn about others. Herghilijiu and La Bagousse are among the numerous students the ISC has helped to meet other students who speak their language.
Both Lee and La Bagousse live on campus. La Bagousse shared that she has made many friends on campus in her building. She was able to make these friends through social events in the building.
For students like Herghilijiu who do not live on campus, this connection through the housing situation is lost. This can be difficult as Herghilijiu expressed that her only opportunity to make on-campus friends is through her classes and social events. ISC events have become crucial to Herghilijiu’s experience at SDSU as they allow her to connect with other students and have that chance at comradery.
Events like Aztec Nights, ISC events and housing events are optional, so it becomes up to the individual to attend and put in the effort to make friends. As Herghilijiu says, “At the end, it is also our job to try to get more involved and try to connect better.”
In an attempt to remedy the ailment of loneliness, some international students have turned toward SDSU resources like the ISC. By gravitating toward other international students for friendship, international students are better supported in their transition to life at SDSU. This comes about due to a lack of language barrier and similarities in circumstances, which can help international students feel not only seen, but understood.
