“One funny thing is that, I didn’t really understand in the beginning, is when everyone’s like, ‘Hey, how are you?’ and then they don’t expect a conversation from it,” senior international soccer player and exercise science major, Matilda Nyberg recalled.
I have thought the exact same thing with befuddlement, regardless of the fact that I do this a lot. Why do I do this? Nyberg expressed to me her initial confusion regarding this when she transitioned from Sweden to starting her journey at Union as a freshman.
In regard to finding Union, Nyberg and Jorge Gutierrez, a junior soccer player from Spain and international business major, both expressed to me that most international students go through an agency to find a suitable college in the United States. Gutierrez further explained that for most of those in sports, the agency will put together a highlight video which will feature some of the player’s best moments. The agency then will take this video along with an SAT score and promote the student to a plethora of U.S. colleges.
“The two most reasons was the soccer standpoint and then the economically standpoint as well,” Gutierrez told me as he talked me through his decision to come to Union.
Union offered him multiple scholarships, and he liked what the soccer team had to offer him.
“In Europe, it’s so much different; like, if I didn’t have a scholarship, I wouldn’t be able to study in the U.S.,” Gutierrez said. “Like, one year of college in the city is 1,000 euros. 1,000 euros is like 1,000 bucks. It’s the same.”
We discussed how things cost a lot less overseas, and people are not as pressured to be busy all the time. It is a lot more relaxed there, and along with that, self-care is highly encouraged. Regardless of these desirable aspects, both Nyberg and Gutierrez told me that they were ready to get out on their own and be more independent.
Gutierrez was the first out of the three siblings in his house to study abroad. Even though he was ready, his mom encouraged him to stay.
“My mom didn’t want me to come here,” Gutierrez said. “She offered me anywhere else in Europe to go, but the U.S. was too far for her, but I was convinced what I wanted to do, and, I mean, she was very sad, but she supported me on anything I wanted to do because she just wants me to be happy.”
As both Nyberg and Gutierrez started at Union, they were placed in a group with others from other countries. Nyberg referred to this group as “The Internationals.” This provided them both with a safe space with like-minded people which helped ease them into Union campus life. To complement this, some of the required classes for international students are for the students in this group only.
Even though the group helped make their transition to the U.S. easier, both Nyberg and Gutierrez still struggled at first. One of the main hurdles for them was the language barrier.
“At least the first month of class, my head was just like…I had to convert everything in my head to Swedish. It just gave me migraines,” Nyberg said with a giggle. “Now, it’s normal. Now, I’m used to it.”
Gutierrez shared a similar experience.
“I was not very good at the beginning, and I always had to ask to repeat what they said like two or sometimes three times, and also, my accent is very strong, even now, but at the beginning, it was worse, and, like, people couldn’t understand me here,” Gutierrez said.
To my surprise, a big culture shock to both of these international students was, as said by Gutierrez, “how important Christianity is here.” Nyberg and Gutierrez expressed how they felt some social pressure in regard to their faith life because it is not as talked about in Sweden and Spain.
“Back home, Christianity is the most important religion as well, but it’s Catholic back home, and it’s not, like, as important as here,” Gutierrez said. “Here it feels like a social thing, you know, like, I feel like people have social pressure of being Christian because everyone is Christian, you know.”
I found this so interesting, especially as a Christian that enjoys having these, almost daily, religious conversations.
“Back home, that doesn’t happen,” Gutierrez continued. “Back home, it’s just like, I mean, you can have your opinion, obviously everyone has their opinion, but it’s not something that you even talk about. Like, it’s something you do with yourself, and you don’t, like, spread, you know.”
Nyberg threw in some of her thoughts on the same matter. However, some of these thoughts were in regard to how the professors at Union frequently find a way to point their subject matter back to Christ.
“It’s funny because you can have a class that has nothing to do with religion or whatever, and they still connect everything to God,” Nyberg said.
Regardless of the language and cultural challenges, Nyberg and Gutierrez have had time to adjust to Union, and they both enjoy the aspects of living on a small campus.
“I like a lot the environment of being on campus with everyone, like, so close to you,” Gutierrez said. “Like, you just walk two minutes, and you are everywhere, and living with my teammates, also being able to be independent, and, like, that was the main reason I wanted to come here because I wanted to grow as a person and be able to depend on myself and have the ability to solve any situations.”
Gutierrez and Nyberg have both enjoyed having a new sense of freedom at Union, however, Gutierrez expressed his trouble in finding this sense at first. Many Union students can relate to this inconvenient tragedy.
“It’s kind of difficult as well at the beginning because I don’t have a car,” Gutierrez laughs as he recalls this. “So, I have freedom, but only on campus.”
Photo by Laila Al-Hagal