By While the pandemic stopped most international students from making it to Carroll, they’re back; and they might just be better than ever.
A group of Carroll’s international and exchange students have formed a National International Student Organization (NISO), a club for students from all over the world (including Carroll) to support international students.
Fátima Ramos, a senior majoring in human resources, from Monterrey, Mexico, is president of the club. She founded it along with her vice president, Rosario Morales Moreno, a junior business major from Valparaíso, Chile, and club secretary Rin Yanase, a sophomore majoring in cross-cultural studies from Tokyo, Japan.
Ramos, who arrived in January 2022 and returned for the fall semester, spearheaded the creation of the club because she didn’t want international students to feel alone.
“When I got here last semester, it was really hard for me to deal with culture shock, and I even started going to the wellness center to see a counselor,” Ramos said.
Ramos decided to start the club to give her friends an identity and a voice.
“When I came back and I met all of the new exchange students, I thought we should make this official,” said Ramos. “We’re always hanging out with each other, we were starting to cook for each other, and after talking to everyone, some of them were feeling alone or homesick because there were some things that they didn’t understand about Americans like why someone doesn’t say hi. The main reason that I did it was so people wouldn’t feel as alone as I did when I first came here.”
The NISO members are hoping that the club will help bring international students together and support them when they first arrive. Ramos, Morales Moreno, and Yanase pointed out that the first few weeks were the hardest part of adjusting to the US. NISO plans to put together a document with information, tips, and tricks for the first days in the US.
Given that cultural adjustment was a shock to most of the international students, NISO also hopes to help international students learn about US culture while educating Carroll students about their home countries. Ramos highlighted how much many of them love talking about their cultures. Stayed tuned for events like global jeopardy, food nights, and more club meetings.
Many of them are also happy to help Carroll students work on their foreign language skills. Students interested in learning a language (even just a few words), should reach out to NISO.
NISO will also help Carroll students learn how they can help support international students. Most people in the US are friendly (they smile, they say hello, they ask you how you’re doing), but they aren’t always actually interested. Ramos, Morales Moreno, and Yanase each felt this was a cultural difference that was difficult to understand. They ask US students to be open to being friends with international students, inviting them to lunch, or even joining NISO.
“The international students are good friends with each other, but it’s hard sometimes to make friends with other people,” said Ramos.
However, NISO is not just for international students; they welcome anyone who wants to join. For more information, you can find NISO on Instagram at @niso.cc or email them at nisocarrollcollege@gmail.com.
