Creative commons photo Shai Barzilay

Most international students have to take a flight, or even several flights, to reach their destination in the U.S. By the time we become seniors we are professionals at packing suitcases, navigating airports and making it through long flights. Very early in my undergraduate career I learned how unpredictable traveling can be, and got some lessons that have stuck with me every time I’ve traveled since.

One of the first big lessons about traveling that I have learned over the years is that I should always bring rolling luggage.  Carrying handbags makes it so difficult and time-consuming to get around the airport. On top of that, I often lost time by mixing up terminals and going to the wrong place.  Now I know to stay calm and even when someone working at the airport directs me to a place I should always double-check the airport signs.

However, even when you are careful, things that you don’t expect happen. Sitting on my first transatlantic flight, I learned that we would be arriving in New York a few hours late because of an additional engine check. A few hours of waiting should be fine, I thought, until it turned out that we had to wait an additional hour, which meant that I wouldn’t have enough time to catch the connecting flight that was taking me to my destination.

When my plane finally landed in the U.S., I ran through immigration and customs, baggage claim, and several terminals to reach my connecting flight, which was set to leave in thirty minutes.

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Going to an American college football game during my first, action-packed semester at Maryland

After conquering my first action-packed semester in the US, when I returned for my second after the Christmas break I expected to come back almost victorious. I had overcome all the nerves I had felt before I first came, and had had an incredible few months.

Instead, upon returning to campus I was hit by the same feelings of detachment and homesickness that I thought I thought had been dealt with.

I loved every second of my first semester in America. All the fear I felt when I first arrived four months ago had dissipated by the time I was set to make my first trip home to spend Christmas break with my family. In fact, it was going home to England that had me filled with a strange nervous excitement.

The comfort of visiting home

I had arrived in America with no plans at all, and with no expectation of what was to come. All I knew was that, as an exchange student who is only here for one academic year, I wanted to make the most of the experience before it ended in May.

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We hear from many students who have faced unique challenges in studying in the U.S., but Sarah’s story is one we haven’t heard before.  She wrote to us to say that she was “over the moon” to receive her acceptance to Notre Dame University, but “the big question? How will we take the children calmly through a 17hour flight?”

With a husband and two small children hoping to accompany her to the U.S., Sarah had some extra stress during her journey to start school this fall.

“You are never too old to dream or pursue your passions; it’s never too late no matter what; hope should never die; one must never give up.”  Those were just some of the things I told myself when I was nursing my unfulfilled desire to pursue a masters in international human rights law.  I thought to myself, “I believe in a big God able to do impossible things, so eventually, no matter what, this Master’s will come my way.”

Lo and behold there it was in front of my eyes; an email from the University of Notre Dame accepting me into their international human rights law program for 2013. I was stunned. I was breathless. I read it over and over again savoring every word, especially “pleased to offer you.” I, a wife, mother of two energetic toddlers and public prosecutor, was about journey across the globe to fulfill a seven-year-old dream!

University of Notre Dame (Creative Commons by Gbozik)

But first I had to get there.

Step one was easy: accept the offer by email and relish in telling friends and family, especially my mom who was living vicariously through me, that finally it had happened and what a prestigious university  I had been accepted to.

Step two however, getting the visas, was something of a mission.  All the spook stories I heard of people being turned down for some unattainable unidentifiable reason loomed large as my family and I waited for our interviews to come. Would they allow us to go together, or would they decide that I didn’t need my family to be with me on this journey?
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If you had a chance to go anywhere in the world and do one thing for your career over the summer, what would you do?

When I say I am majoring in economics, most people try to clarify. “Consulting?” they ask. “Management?” But my passion is development economics; that is, economics of poor and least developed countries.

During the past year I realized that I want to contribute research that helps policy makers improve the lives of disadvantaged people around the world.  I discovered that I want that rewarding feeling of fighting for a cause.  But while I knew this was the field I wanted to pursue, what I didn’t know until recently is what this career, or even an average work day, could look like. I’d read numerous research papers on economic development issues, but didn’t understand how that research is produced.

After spending the past two months in Nepal, working on a research project examining the links between migration, poverty, and the quality of governance, for the first time now I feel confident that this is a career path I can pursue in graduate school and beyond.

How I got the chance to work in Nepal

In the middle of my junior year I found out that Mount Holyoke offers summer funding awards. These awards can be used towards financing any internship or research project in any country in the world, provided you can articulate how the summer experience will fit into your career. I applied and, a few short months later, found myself accepting my grant at an award ceremony.
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“From the Great Lakes going down through Chicago, it seems to me that if you want to find America, that’s where it is.”
– American actor William H. Macy.

Fargo, North Dakota (Creative commons photo by Mike Kelley)

Macy was talking about his leading role in the Oscar-winning comedy/thriller Fargo, which takes place in the Midwest states of North Dakota and Minnesota.

Fargo, the biggest city in North Dakota and the film’s namesake, was the very place where I studied as an international exchange student for the past year. I used to complain about it being remote and boring, and it is, but now that I’m back at home, watching the movie Fargo makes me nostalgic for the city’s incomparable goodness.

If you’ve never seen the movie, it’s pretty dark, and often disturbing. But it also shows the love for this region by the filmmakers (Joel and Ethan Coen, who grew up in Minnesota) and the actors.  Both William H. Macy and I know the real Fargo that ever brightened our heart.

In this last post for the Student Union, I’d like to share some pictures with my dedicated audience to present my Fargo – a marvelous land that most travelers to America will never know.

Landscape

Fargo, like other parts of Midwest, has very huge plains all the way down to the skyline. And in the winter, these plains turn into sheets of snow and ice.

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Ah, it is summer again! The golden time for travel! Dear international students, are you familiar with traveling in America? As an international student myself, I can still remember my first travel in America. I learned a lot about how transportation works in the U.S., and I’m glad to share with you some tips I learned from my own experience.

Train is the primary means of long distance transportation for people in my home country China, while the most popular way in America is to take a plane. But there are lots of other methods of traveling far distances in America as well, that an international student may not know about or think about.

Since almost every form of travel here requires a reservation, you should think about how you want to travel well in advance of your trip.

Airplane

Flight is the most popular means of travel in America, since it is fast and comfortable.  During my last spring break, I took a plane to Los Angeles in order to save time. Spring break only lasts for one week, and I wanted to make sure I had as much time as possible for entertainment.
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Daranita is a student in Cambodia, where she is majoring in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) and Business Management. This summer she came on a short exchange program to San Francisco to learn about entrepreneurship and innovation, and shares this story about her experience visiting some of the most famous companies in America.

After three years in high school, and two years in university, I have realized that there is no limitation of choosing my path in life. Everyone is being brought to the world with unique talents, which for me include my strong determination to be part of development for the community where I was born and raised.

This summer, I was selected to go to San Francisco with a group of students from different universities in Cambodia for a program focused on creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship, which fit with my major of Business Management and focused that determination.

The selection process was very tough because most of the students were from the top universities, but I was a shortlisted candidate last year, so I had a good chance for this year. The toughest thing for me was the visa interview with the U.S. Embassy, because we could encounter the failure anytime if we didn’t have enough documents for proof.

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Recently I traveled from San Francisco to the east coast, for what was a lifetime opportunity to see the real America. When I say “real America” I don’t mean fast food, Hollywood or skyscrapers, but rather the history and culture.

Like many other people I also had this perception that America starts with Christopher Columbus and ends with a continuous progressive nation forever. Before last week I was of the view that America has a past but no HISTORY, as it is such a young country. But I was wrong as I saw the place where revolution started, where leaders like Benjamin Franklin worked and struggled for independence and brought a revolution.

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The Empire State Building (lit up red and white to support Japan) - Photo: Reuters

Our wonderful VOA intern Jihye Choi, who comes from Korea, shares her second photo essay of pictures from America. Last time, the photos were of Washington, D.C., where she lives and works. This time, she had a chance to visit New York City and shares some great photos and stories from her trip.  I’m from New York, and I haven’t even seen all the places she visited!

Hello again! How have you been doing? Did you miss me?

Since Monday (22nd of February) was a public holiday (Presidents’ Day) in the States, I decided to go for a short trip for 3 days. As you can see above, I went to New York, which is the biggest city in the U.S.A.

Because I didn’t have enough time to see all of New York, I only looked around Manhattan at this time. This place was far beyond of my imagination. I found a lot of interesting spots that I want to introduce to you.

So, I’m going to take you on a short tour around NY! You will see not only classic tour spots, but also unknown attractions of Manhattan.

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Las Vegas. It’s the sort of place which has been portrayed in mythical terms in the movies and on television to such a scale that it seems impossible to think of it as a real place, an actual city where people live and work.

Photo: Carol M. Highsmith

I had been meaning to take a trip there for a long time, and this past weekend, as spring break sprung to life, a few friends and I set off from Santa Fe, New Mexico due northwest to “Sin City.”

I encountered many thoughts and feelings over the course of those few days. As many of my American friends had foretold, the word “surreal” kept popping up much more than “magical” or “mythical” in Las Vegas.

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If there is one thing I recently learned, it is that you never know what America has in store for you to explore. San Francisco is one of those American gems that charmed me immediately. I had a half-day layover last Saturday as I was flying back to school in New Mexico. Since my flight from Hong Kong to San Francisco arrived quite early in the morning, I decided to make a quick visit to the downtown area of the city.

Here are some photos I took (click on any picture to enlarge it to full size):

I took the BART train from the airport station to Powell station. This ride took me right to the heart of downtown San Francisco, where the streets are crowded with malls, retail stores, restaurants and cafes…

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