I remember this one time during my freshman year when I was playing ping pong in the Bowld with some friends, one of whom was an international student. We were all having a good time even though I certainly wasn’t winning because I have no hand-eye coordination. It was warm outside, and so the window was open and the humidity was thick. It was great until someone asked the international, “So… do you have roads in Africa?”
Silence.
Everyone stared at him, and suddenly the room was hotter and much stuffier than I had realized.
Okay, so that’s an example of the kinds of questions that international students get. I’m dating an international student and there have been many people who jokingly tell us to get married so my boyfriend can get a green card. Or, I hear people ask an international where they are from and I watch them have to deal with all the questions and misconceptions about their country. It’s like that scene in Mean Girls when Karen asks Cady how she can be white and from Africa at the same time.
Internationals spend excessive amounts of time away from their families. They have to communicate in a language that sometimes is not their native tongue. But the most common thing that I hear from internationals is dealing with the struggle of living between two cultures.
Cesar Lazarini was born in Campinas, San Paulo in Brazil, and grew up there with his family. He came to the United States to chase his dream of playing soccer at a professional level. He has played for various NPSL teams in the summers and pursues a business management degree while playing soccer for Union during the school year.
“I played soccer my whole life, and I learned about an opportunity to get a college scholarship to play soccer in college,” Lazarini said. “I liked the idea that I could do what I loved while still getting a degree.”
But still, Lazarini says that not having one certain identity is a challenge for him.
“I’ve been living in the United States, and it’s almost like I’m Brazilian, but I’ve lost some of that identity and I’ve gained some of America’s identity. So, I’m not 100% Brazilian, and I’m not 100% American, I’m like this mix and it’s not knowing where is home and where you identify with because you have parts of every country.”
Although Lazarini considers this to be complicated, he also acknowledges that this mixture of cultural identity can be a good thing. For him, it can be hard to adapt to being different, but it can also be a blessing, as it gives him a distinct perspective on identity from most Americans.
Lazarini laughs as he explains that Brazilians are a very physical culture and always greet each other with a hug or a kiss. But overall, Americans tend to like personal space, which can create an interesting dynamic.
“If you are too friendly with someone, then they will think you’re flirting,” he said.
Carlos Ruiz, an international that hails from Guatemala, is studying international business. Ruiz also admits that adapting to another culture can be a challenge.
“My culture is completely different and [to] try to understand another culture and adapt is hard,” Ruiz said. “Some things can be offensive in one culture and maybe in the other one it’s just something that people do and doesn’t have a meaning.”
Despite this cultural dilemma, Ruiz says that he enjoys telling people about his country and likes when people show an interest in where he is from.
There are three words that every international student dreads: Optional Practical Training.
OPT allows for international students to stay stateside after they graduate. It permits internationals one year of post-graduate work in the States, a time in which they would hopefully be able to find an employer willing to sponsor their visa from student status (F-1 Visa) to a work visa (H1-B). However, this isn’t a particularly easy thing to obtain. You have to apply for OPT within 90 days of your anticipated graduation, and it takes nearly all 90 days to arrive and costs $410, which can prove to be an issue if you do not apply soon enough. After you have been granted OPT, you have 60 days to find a job, otherwise you are in violation of your visa.
After one year is up, internationals have the option to return home or to try to attain a Temporary Work Visa, of which there are 11 different categories.
According to US Immigration policies, applications for a green card cost $1,140, and applications for citizenship cost $725, and there is always the chance your application could be denied. Although these costs seem enormous, if an international is able to find an employer to sponsor their visa, then the process is much cheaper.
Todosita Torres was born in the United States, but knows of the hardships that internationals face, as her parents are both from Mexico. Even though Torres is American, she still experiences the struggles of being intertwined in two cultures and two languages.
“I can say it’s hard to live in the states when you carry a double culture and nationality,” Torres said. “I was born in the States, but I was raised with a Hispanic/Mexican culture.”
“At home I would speak Spanish, and as I grew up it was hard to learn the language. I actually started to lose my Spanish at a point. I remember my mom would ignore me until I spoke to her in Spanish. At the time I did not understand but now I see how important it was to know two different languages.”
Torres says this would even cause dissention in her family.
“Even though I was born in the States, I always consider myself from Mexico because that is home for me,” Torres said. “As a kid I always grew up going back and forth to Mexico. I would say it’s hard to live a double nationality. If I go to Mexico I have to be twice as Mexican to have my family accept me so they don’t consider me “American,” and when I come to the States, I have to be twice as “American” so I can be accepted in the society we live in.”
“I have learned to appreciate my background and my culture because that is what represents me. I honestly would say I kind of have my own culture, because it’s having two in one, which I think it’s pretty neat because I can understand both the American and the Mexican culture.”
Torres, Ruiz and Lazarini have all experienced different backgrounds and life circumstances, but they carry the same struggle in being torn between two cultures.
As fellow Union students, I think it is important to recognize where internationals come from and create a welcoming and home-like environment for them, as we are all striving for the same thing in college.
