Chelsea Zhao
Staff Writer
Dominican University is known for its recognition of students of various heritage and backgrounds and support of a faith-filled environment. Some of that is reflected in the International Integration and Success as well as
the Buddies System that pair up an international student with an American citizen.
All of the international students interviewed mentioned a smooth transition on campus, from the kindness of students to the support of faculty members.
Transfer student from Italy studying Italian and Translation, Giacomo Polinelli mentioned, “Everyone is extremely nice and is always ready to help you… Even like the advisors and every office around here, they don’t dismiss you. They are always ready to give a hand and I think it’s really important.”
This idea of community support is echoed by Spanish student David Poensgen, who is pursuing a major in Biology, “I think Dominican is doing a great job on including international students in the campus, as well as
showing us around by going to events or even through the Buddies program,” Poensgen said.
Some students like Vi Nguyen also take notice of the various resources. “It’s very convenient because they have like, almost everything. They have the library, a cafeteria, computers and all those stuff that I can use,” she said. Vi Nguyen is from Vietnam and she is pursuing a degree in International Business.
With regards to the Buddies program, Asma Alneel, a transfer student from Saudi Arabia, who is pursuing a degree of International Relations, mentioned how it helped her to connect with people from various cultures.
“I feel included because they have the buddies program for the international students and I felt that it helped me to be more involved in many activities and university activity,” she said.
Alneel is also part of a group called Coffee House, a series of faith-filled gatherings that provided an open-space for people of all backgrounds to come together and share their stories. She is also working with others on a project
in relation with the Coffee House called Soul Stories.
“It’s a project that’s about an open space for students to tell stories without anyone to judge them, which is very interesting and important,” she said.
Similarly, Polinelli is involved with the Saint Joseph Day Table organized by the Italian Department, “Students and faculty, with a small donation, have the access to this big buffet while the origin of the tradition is that people did it for a famine, so it was free but, now collect small donations we use to give back to the school for different projects.”
“I feel related to all people, at the end of the day, we are all humans.” – Kafunya
For the international students in the graduate school, many are looking to continue their career in the United
States. Teng Ren, a student from China pursuing a PhD in Library and Information Science/Management, mentions, “I have 3 more years for my graduate study, my plan for the future is to become a communicator between U.S. and China for educational communication. Another plan is, I will also teach something because I got the degree.”
According to Nguyen, these students cannot vote and face harsh restrictions when applying to internships. “It’s going to be harder for me because I wasn’t born here. Usually American companies and offices prefer citizens from here. So it’s going to be a tough time for me.” She said, “I hope Dominican University can help me for some internships or they can help me with like the process for my future.”
Despite the challenges and limitations due to their status, many international students flourished under the Dominican environment. Brian Kafunya, an international student born in Zimbabwe, is pursuing a law degree, noted “It often depends being a U.S. citizen, for example the elections, I wasn’t able to vote, but that is not stuff that hinders my progress as a student.”
Many students interviewed also provided many helpful suggestions for the school.
Some mentioned the selective days that the international student office is open. Others suggested a sub-section for the Student Success and Engagement dedicated for international student and their specific situations. There are also some interests for an international student organization that will help with matters such as I20, resumes, and internship application.
Nevertheless, as the international students among us navigate through the American culture, many of them of different and diverse backgrounds, they have contributed to our campus in many ways. From Alneel’s Coffee House
for open faith discussions, to Polielli’s participation in Saint Joseph Day table, to Brian Kafunya’s involvement with Black Student Union and much more, the international students have broughtvarious perspective and received
memorable experience from the Dominican community.
“I feel related to all people, at the end of the day, we are all humans.” Kafunya said, “But [my background is] just part
of my identity. The more you get to know anyone, the more you get to know their identity.”
qzhao@my.dom.edu
