Jorge from Guatemala is a visiting student for the 2012-2013 academic year. He has been participating in different community service projects since he came to the UofA. Today, we’d like to share his story about recycling and football experience:

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I received an email from International Student Organization (ISO) and International Students & Scholars office (ISS) of the University of Arkansas that invited students to participate in a volunteer opportunity in which I could help promote awareness about recycling within the community and get a football ticket in the VIP section by doing it. I decided to sign up for this opportunity since I had the chance to get an excellent seat for the first football game by collecting recyclable materials such as cans, bottles, and cardboard during the day of the game.

For preparation, I was given a t-shirt that had the recycling logo, two plastic bags and a pair of gloves. On game day, along with my friends, I went to the areas where tailgate parties were happening near the stadium. My friends and I approached people by asking for any recyclable materials and shared our bags with those who had their bags full already. After filling all our bags full, my friends and I were very tired but very happy and satisfied because we were able to collect a big amount of recyclable materials. I realized that a lot of recyclable materials would go into trash cans during a football game and a lot of trash is generated because of this. I felt happy while helping the recycling activity because a lot of people from the community appreciated my work. I also thought our activity showed the community that recycling is very important and we need to take care of the environment.

After we finished collecting the recyclable materials, I enjoyed watching the game in a great spot along with other members who joined the activity. I was able to closelywatch the very first game of the season for the University of Arkansas and had a great experience in my first football game. At the beginning of the game, we watched the UofA marching band play the National Anthem and the Arkansas Anthem. Later, the players started to enter the field and a lot of cheers started to happen and everyone was calling the Hogs. Being in a football stadium surrounded with 70,000 people was simply incredible. The cheers were going from one side to the other and the stadium was so alive. This was an incredible experience of my lifetime since watching a live football game was so exciting.

After this experience, I would like to continue to explore the community by learning from others and, at the same time, be a good example for the community. I recommendthat my friends participate in this recycling project for future games. Indeed, I participated in this for the second game and had a great time again!

Rahma from Egypt is a new visiting student for the Fall 2012 at the University of Arkansas. She reflected upon her first a few weeks for our blog. Enjoy her story:

Flying overseas for more than 15 hours, passing through one check point after another, 3 stops at 3 different cities… Yet, for me, all of this didn’t matter… What was always in my mind while I was traveling was the final destination: Fayetteville, Arkansas. As the plane approached the airport, Northwest Arkansas didn’t seem like a big city from the air. In fact, it was totally the opposite – there were sheep, barns, horse stables and green fields all around the place. Coming from Cairo, Egypt, I had never lived in the countryside or a city with a lot of green before, so I immediately thought it was going to be interesting to live here, but I also thought it would be a fun chapter of my life. My arrival was very smooth. I felt the hospitable atmosphere right away, which I’d always heard about as Southern Hospitality since I learned that I was going to a southern state.

When I first arrived in Fayetteville, I knew nothing about the town or the University culture. I didn’t know anyone except a couple of students who came to the UofA on the same scholarship program. However, after the orientation week, I was confident that I got ‘well oriented’ with the place, students and the University – the home of the Razorbacks! That week was definitely the best start for my academic year and my stay in Fayetteville as it brought this new environment into my comfort zone. I met people literally from all over the world: Asia, Africa, North America, Central & South America and Europe. We had fun through orientation activities and sessions and we visited several places around Fayetteville. I became friends with most of them while exploring new places. It was indeed an international week and I got to learn a bit of every culture of every country that was presented at the UofA.

I spent 10 days of Ramadan here in Fayetteville. Ramadan back home is such a spiritual month where we have many family gatherings and share the food with friends and relatives but I thought there was not going to be any of this here in Fayetteville. Luckily, I ran into a couple of Pakistani students who introduced me to the Islamic Center in the community and I went there with them several times to pray and break fast with other Muslims. It was really nice and brought some of Ramadan spirits to me in Fayetteville. At the end of Ramadan, the Islamic Center held a small celebration on the occasion of the Feast. I went there on that day and the great part was that a couple of my American friends joined me! We shared food and cultures and it was truly a wonderful time at the mosque.

As time goes by, I’ve learned that studying at the UofA is definitely different from my university back home. From the class environment, how professors teach here, to relationships with classmates, everything is very new to me. It is sometimes challenging to face such a lot of new situations and events in a totally new environment but actually, so far, I’ve been enjoying my time here and day by day I learn more about the culture and the people. Since I arrived in Fayetteville, I’ve tried to embrace all the differences, which I believe is not an impossible thing to do especially when we are surrounded by an open-minded, culturally diverse, supportive environment such as the one here at the UofA.

Looking back a few weeks since I arrived in Fayetteville, I’ve realized and confirmed my mission of my study abroad experience: cultural exchange! I’m here to discover and learn about the American culture and people and to have a glimpse on the academic life in an American educational institution. I’m also here to teach people about my country, language and background which I come from. I am willing to take in every opportunity to adjust myself into the society and also to be a responsible member of the community through volunteer activities and so on. In addition to those, I am planning to travel as much as possible to other states and major cities. I want to take pictures with the statue of liberty in New York City and try out Texas’s well-famous house steak! And the list goes on and on…!

Sometimes I already feel homesick and miss my family and friends and everything about home, too. Yet, I keep reminding myself of all the things that I could do here as a visiting student, goals to achieve and experiences to gain in my stay in the U.S. I’m here today writing this article in my dorm room in the U.S. and I am positive it will be an amazing experience that will teach me a lot and it will be a year full of accomplishments.

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Thank you, Rahma, for sharing your thoughts about your first a few weeks in Fayetteville! Also, thank you for bringing the world to the community!

“How awesome it would be to be an ambassador of the culture while studying at the UofA!”

This is what I was thinking before coming to the United States. So, when the coordinator of Holcombe International Living Learning Community approached me and asked me if I’d want to be a leader of the program, Korean Night, I thought “this is it.”  I was happy to take the leadership opportunity to organize this event because I was thinking of sharing the culture with the community even before coming here!

Korean Night program has been one of the biggest and most popular programs in Holcombe Hall, which aims to share Korean culture with the community by offering different activities. I thought it was perfect because I felt that Korean culture was still not “popular” among people around the world although there are many global companies from Korea: Many people haven’t tasted Korean food or simply didn’t know much about the country. Korean Night was a great chance for us to let people know about Korea on campus.

As we proceeded with preparations, I began to feel a huge responsibility on my shoulders as a cultural ambassador and a director of the program.

Preparation was absolutely challenging. Yet, I enjoyed the whole process. I really liked the flyer I made and various components of the program we came up with. Samulnori (Korean instrumental show), Taekwondo (Korean martial arts), K-pop performance and 4 tables with different themes (Kimbap making, clothing/photo booth, craft making, and coloring). I enjoyed working with those leaders of each activity and sharing ideas with them. They were so passionate about this project.

Every single person I met before the event day encouraged me saying “I am looking forward to Korean Night!” Many people responded to the facebook invitation. Residents’ Interhall Congress decided to sponsor our program by providing funding. My home university, Sogang University, also sent me a package of brochures and souvenirs! These facts just made me so motivated.

However, every step to make the program successful was demanding. It is true that I faced many difficulties and concerns about the program during the preparation. I didn’t know that organizing an event required a lot of time and efforts! Supporting all team members, preparing all stuff needed for the event and organizing different components of the program in details were not easy at all. The closer the event day was, the more I felt pressure.

Finally the event night came and the program was a great success.

I was very surprised and overwhelmingly happy to hear that we had more than 270 guests at Korean Night.  I was simply excited to see many people around the world were really interested in learning the Korean culture. After the event, I read all comments that people wrote about their first impression of Korea, and it was really interesting. Many of my friends told me that they enjoyed the event. And what made me very proud of ourselves was this comment I happened to overhear from somebody during the event — “This is the best cultural event that I have ever been to on campus.”

It was a wonderful night I will never forget.

This event taught me many things. It allowed me to learn how to become a better leader and I truly believe that this experience will help my future leadership.  As a Korean, I saw the potential of Korean culture and it has made me believe that our culture can reach out to many more people in many more countries in this globalized world.

Now, even after a month, I still feel proud of myself, the team and the event itself.

Let me take this opportunity to say Thank You to all of those who worked so hard for the event and those who came to the event!

 

 

 

You can enjoy the program on YouTube:

* Country Presentation: http://goo.gl/C8RtY
* Samulnori (Traditional Drums): http://goo.gl/mWFhc
* Taekwondo: http://goo.gl/Ilfg7
* K-Pop Dancing: http://goo.gl/HNQb2

The Visiting Student Program has been organizing programs to Walton Arts Center (WAC) once a semester for the past few semesters. We had 10 students who decided to join us and enjoyed the great musical, In The Heights. International Students & Scholars would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to two WAC staff: Ms. Lauren Mahony, Group Sales Concierge, and Ms. Emily Ironside, Annual Giving Manager, for arranging tickets and the special occasion for our students (You’ll know why at the end of this story!)!

Here’s a reflection by Sangeun Cho about her WAC experience!

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I joined a program to enjoy In The Heights a few weeks ago. It was my first time to visit Walton Arts Center and also my first time to watch a Broadway musical. I can honestly say that it was absolutely wonderful!

Since Walton Arts Center provides various kinds of art performances, I always wanted to visit there. However, it was hard for me to get a chance to enjoy popular programs and shows because many of ticket prices were not affordable for me as a student. Fortunately, thanks to the program that was arranged by the International Students & Scholars office, this amazing show became available to me! I was able to enjoy watching the Tony Award-winning musical, In The Heights, at Walton Arts Center with other nine visiting students who signed up for the program.

In The Heights is a musical that is about people, family and their friends in this Dominican-American community in Washington Heights, New York City. In The Heights has been played successfully since 2008.

I thought the show had very unique characteristics comparing to other musicals.

First of all, the unique, Latin cultural influenced atmosphere throughout the show was interesting! From the beginning, dynamic and rhythmical Latin dance and music caught my eyes and grabbed my heart! Especially, the main actor’s rap was very impressive. Also, English that had slight accents on the stage was very delightful to me. It was different from an American accent I got used to learning back home, but I enjoyed the new sounds of the language.

Secondly, the story was very touching. It really showed heartwarming love and care among family members and people in the community. In this musical, each character faces hardship, yet each one of them has his/her dreams in their lives. The musical tells us stories of people and how they care about each other, how hard they work to make their dreams come true, and how they overcome their challenges wisely. Through stories of all characters on the stage, I felt that I was able to have a glimpse of their daily life and cultural richness in the Dominican-American community in New York. This show gave me an opportunity to think of diversity in the U.S.

After the show, I was very satisfied with this musical.

However, my story doesn’t end here! To my surprise, there was a special arrangement by staff at Walton Arts Center for a few student groups, including visiting students, to meet some of the main actors and actresses after the show!! Wow!! At this Meet and Greet, we could hear the behind-the-scene stories of In The Heights. On top of this surprise, I was very lucky on this day: We did drawing and I won a special gift, soundtrack CDs of In The Heights!

It was a wonderful evening that I will not forget. I hope other international students will be able to have wonderful experience as I did at this program while studying at the University of Arkansas!

Holcombe International Living Learning Community had their annual event, Korean Night on Friday, March 2, 2012. Our visiting students contributed so much to make this program happen; from cooking to making origami crafts, from decorating the room to the playing music. BoRyung Geum participated in the traditional musical instrument permanence. This is her story of the program and the study abroad journey itself. Enjoy.

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When I heard about the Korean Night Program in Holcombe International Living Learning Community for the first time, I was thinking of helping the program as a volunteer for the cooking team. I thought cooking Korean food was the only way I could contribute to this cultural program. However, as the preparation process went on, I learned that there was going to be a Samulnori performance as one of components for Korean Night and the team was supposed to have five people who could play Korean traditional instruments. The Program Assistant in the International Students & Scholars office, who worked with our leader, Minjun Park (a visiting student from South Korea), asked me if I would be interested in participating in Samulnori as a performer. After a moment of hesitation, I said yes.

Samulnori is a distinctive Korean traditional music. There are four different percussion instruments in Samulnori ;  Kkwaenggwari, Janggu, Buk and Ching. My instrument turned to be Kkwaenggwari which is a small brass gong. I was concerned about the instrument because Kkwaenggwari player is considered as a leader of the quartet to keep the rhythm and lead the music. Nevertheless, many friends of mine encouraged and inspired me to try the instrument and further my efforts and I gained confidence about playing Samulnori along with other members.

I believed in myself. I knew I could challenge this new thing because I had already done a dance performance at the Friday Night Live (FNL). This FNL experience made me prepared in a way and I started to think that I could do anything if I practice a lot. This is the reason why I decided to participate in Samulnori to make the Korean Night program more fun, entertaining and educational even though I had not had any experience with the instrument.

To tell you the truth, we had some difficulties in practicing. First of all, there was no appropriate place where we could practice. As you can imagine, those Korean traditional instruments that we played are all kinds of percussion instruments so that they made a lot of noises. When we practiced in Holcombe Hall, we always felt sorry for other students who lived in Holcombe but we had no choice to practice for our program. Let me take this opportunity to say sorry to students in Holcombe!! Secondly, we had no idea how to play Korean traditional instruments. Three members out of five, including myself, had had no experience with Samulnori while only two girls learned some when they were middle school students. We needed a simple score since we had little time till the program day. Therefore, two of our members composed a score by themselves. If they had not been studying at the University of Arkansas this semester, I am pretty sure the Samulnori performance at Korean Night 2012 would have not been the same!

After our performance, the audience gave us a big, big, big round of applause. I felt really great about having accomplished this component of the program successfully! Also, I was happy about the fact that a lot of guests (I heard it was around 270 people who came to Holcombe that night!) could know more about Korea through our performance and different cultural activities.

One thing I loved about the whole process was that my parents said “BoRyung, we are so proud of you and so happy that you are our daughter. We believe you have been a great ambassador for Korea at the UofA” after they watched the video of Korean Night on Facebook.

Even though I had never performed anything like this when I was in Korea, I have done some performances since I came to the University of Arkansas as a Visiting Student. I really appreciate friends and staff around me who gave me these opportunities and encouraged me to do many things like Samulnori at Korean Night and the dance performance at FNL. I want to participate in many events as much as I can until I go home. Lastly, here’s the message to current and new visiting students: I would like say “Enjoy your life in Arkansas!”

To enjoy the Smulnori part of the program, here’s link to the Samulnori Performance.

To enjoy the whole program on the video, here’s the link to the Korean Night 2012.

Austin Campbell, an RA in Futrall Hall, organized a field trip to go visit the Crystal Bridges for Futrall and Holcombe residents. Li Sun shared her experience with us. Enjoy!

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Whenever I visit a different place, museums are always the must-go-places ranking top on my list. To me, a museum is the condensation of knowledge that the artists, past and present, have passed on to us from generation to generation by way of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance. Among the most interesting and quickest ways of learning a different culture is simply immersing yourself in a sea of masterpieces which together help unfold a panorama of history, culture and arts of that place. For that purpose, I, along with many other international students, went to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

My friends and I started our trip from the Crystal Bridges Trail. It is noteworthy that the outside landscape of the museum is as much as a part of the experience of Crystal Bridges as the art inside. The trail features a beautiful and serene walk through Compton Gardens. Along the winding trail, there are some sculptures of artistic interest, for example, Group of Bears, a bronze sculpture created by Paul Manship which features three bears with different poses, and Shore Lunch, another bronze sculpture by Dan Ostermiller that depicts a bear hunting fish. The subject of both works is a bear, a wild animal at large and a creature in the nature. I felt that those artists presented their works in an attempt to let viewers take away the idea that arts and nature are both vital to the human spirit and they should be accessible to all, which is also the overall philosophy of Crystal Bridges Museum.

After walking through the trail, we came into the “Wonder World”, one of the museum’s collections. It brings together thirty-three contemporary works by established, mid-career, and emerging artists and those works illustrate the themes of perception, representation, illusion, nature, and history.

Personally, one piece of work that impressed me the most was Enassamishhinjijweian,an oil painting by Tom Uttech. In the painting, mists lie heavily and the sun sets roseate on the lonely swamps; locks of various species of birds, nocturnal and diurnal, flying in the same direction; one contemplative bear sitting motionlessly with his back to us in the midst of the landscape – the bear was staring into the distance.

While sitting on a bench in front of the painting, I couldn’t figure out what that artist was trying to convey until the guide asked me a simple question “Where are you from?” I told him that I was from Beijing, China and then he continued with another question “How long will it take you to get out of the city and approach the natural environment in Beijing?” I thought about that for a while and said “Four hours’ drive.” Of course, allowing for the gnawing traffic jam in such a big city as Beijing. At this point, I couldn’t help thinking that with urbanization and industrialization progressing on, we have gone to great lengths to flock into metropolises in pursuit of more opportunities that we thought those big cities promised us. However, the lamentable result is that we have become so accustomed to the hustle and bustle of the cities that we have left no room and time for the enjoyment of nature, the very inhabitancy we human beings are dwelling in. Our minds are stuffed with all the trifles which we boasted as significant things, however. I was sitting there in front of this huge painting, contemplating just as that lonely bear, and wondering if he was digesting the same thing as I was.

Apart from the contemporary arts, the museum has another collection of works that can be dated back into colonial era. “Celebrating the American Spirit”is the inaugural presentation of the Museum’s collection. It holds more than 400 works by American great artists, and provides us with a great understanding of American art and history.  This historic and significant art pieces teach us about America’s history through artists’ perspectives.

A museum is, to some extent, a story-teller. The collections of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art told us an unfolding story of the United States from as early as colonial period to the present day through the masterpieces of American arts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This month of February is the Black History Month to celebrate and remember important historical people and events in the history of African Americans. Thus, the Black Student Association (BSA) organized an “Essence of History Fashion Show” on the 9^th of February, 2012.

It was a creative event where history was portrayed in a rather aesthetic way. Aside from the narrators telling the history and efforts of historical people, there were students who were dressed and presenting themselves like various African American historical figures, such as Malcolm X, Zora Neale Hurston and many more. This ‘Fashion Show’ like portrayal definitely added a wow factor to the event.

There were also dancing performances as well as a mind blowing performance by a prominent singer. Each performance was applauded. I couldn’t take my eyes off the stage for even a little while or else I’d risk missing the great feats performed by the dancers.

The finale took us all by surprise. We were told by the narrators to stand up as the President of the United States, Barack Obama and First Lady, Michelle Obama, are making an appearance. To everyone’s astonishment, students once again were impersonating the President and First Lady. Yet, we all stood up, showed respect and applauded the great presentation.

At the end, the President of the Black Student Association, Raven, gave an inspirational speech; she said that great people from the past devoted their lives so that African Americans would be granted equal rights and power to vote. Their dreams have materialized and now it is the duty of every African American to vote so that the sacrifices made in the past are not wasted.

It was a great event, very enlightening and amusing. It was wonderful to see many African American students from the University of Arkansas sitting under one roof, remembering their past. All would agree that it was a great tribute to the African American legends of history.

– Ali Khalid

Holcombe Geography Series Program has been successful thanks to our international students. One of great things about this program is a lot of presenters have been visiting students! Ramz Shalbak shared her reflections about this program and love & pride for her country, Palestine. Enjoy. — Nami

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After I was selected as one of the six Palestinians for the Near East and South Asia Undergraduate Exchange Program (NESA UGRAD) to study in the United States, I was nervous and scared: I might not be good enough to represent my country in a way that it should be represented in. I guess it was because, at that point, I had not yet recognized this great connection between myself and Palestine, the place I come from.

As a NESA student, my goal is to learn about the American people, norms, holidays, and all the other aspects of the American culture, but I believe my experience has been extraordinarily different from my expectation, in such a positive way. Since the Fayetteville has such a supportive international community that is friendly to international students from all around the world, my experience has not been limited to only learning from the U.S. cultural experience but also from unique multi-cultural experiences. This kind of experience has taken me “on a journey” to different countries around the world every time I meet a new friend and learn something about his/her culture.

After spending five months here, I felt it was my turn to tell my story to all those who had shared their lives, cultures, experiences, and feelings with me from the first day I came to Fayetteville. My biggest fear at that point was “how” — How am I going to represent my country which is not like any other countries, because Palestine, the small country that lies on the Mediterranean sea, has always been a special country for its long and unique history. Geography Series Program, a country presentation program that is open for anyone who wishes to learn different cultures and expand a global perspective, was the perfect chance for me to introduce the community to my country. The coordinator of Geography Series Program offered me the opportunity to start the Spring semester by presenting “one of the most complicated countries in the world” as people tend to describe it — Palestine.

At the beginning, it was hard for me to choose what to talk about because I was thinking that the image about Palestine for almost everyone would be automatically tied up with the image of the country as a war zone. I did not want to repeat same scenes they usually see on TV shows or news. I wanted to share stories how the life would be if you were a Palestinian. I wanted to show our daily life in Palestine to let participants know our language and culture. Also my number one hope was to give a memorable impression about Palestinian people.

This experience lifted me to a new level of understanding about peace not only as a Palestinian whose country is struggling as an occupied country, but also as an ambassador of the country who wants to translate her history and the knowledge she has gained here into a new peaceful experience to the whole world.

It is said that you never feel the love of something until you are far away from it; and it is indeed true because I did not actually realize how much I love my country and how much I am proud of my origins until I represented it.

by Ramz Shalbak

Komal Nadeem is a visiting student from Pakistan. She studies at the University of Arkansas for a semester. She is trying to soak up all the cultural experiences! One day, she shared her story about a concert that was held at the Walton Arts Center (WAC) in Fayetteville. As Bo Kyung told us her story before, WAC is such a great place to explore cultures. So, here’s another great example. Enjoy! — Nami

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‘Hey, Komal, I found out that there is a Latin Jazz concert tonight at the Walton Arts Center. Let’s check it out!’ said Ali Khalid, another visiting student from Pakistan.

It was a performance by Poncho Sanchez and his band.

I had not explored much different genres of music, especially Latin Jazz.

Latin Jazz – it sounded something new and something diverse, which was very exciting to me. When Ali told me about the concert, I was already tired because of all the school work and an evening event on campus, but I decided to give it a try to explore a different culture. Since music had always intrigued me, I was sure I would not regret the experience just because I was tired.

I am from Pakistan. I grew up with rock music, pop music and some traditional cultural music. Pakistani folklore varies: Some are serene some are inspirational. So, thinking of music I grew up with, I was expecting Latin Jazz would be a little bit different from the music I was used to.

With excitement in my heart, we arrived at the Walton Arts Center and found our reserved seats. Who knew that I would experience one of the most beautiful music that night! Their music was full of emotions. It was happy. It was sad. At the same time, it lightened me up and it also made me feel all nostalgic.

I didn’t know whether to “enjoy” it or “experience” it because every moment, I was listening to the tunes composed by Poncho Sanchez; I was in the state of Glee. One of the many things I found different in the concert was the ‘arrangement’ of it. Where I come from, concerts are more about screaming and dancing, or listening quietly. Here, I found both in one. People were so synchronized. If one danced, everyone followed the rhythm. If one shook his head in music, everyone did. It was like a culture. Some discipline of sort that I loved about the people. They were happy and they were all enjoying together – dancing together and screaming around as if we all were a family enjoying some TV show at home. It may sound weird, but even at the concert, I felt at home. I learned to love both Latin Jazz and people.

I felt good when I came back home and lied down to drift off.

Of course, I didn’t have any regrets. No, I didn’t. I felt happy. Very happy, indeed.

First week of my life in the U.S. kicked off smoothly! I got to spend some time with the International Students & Scholars staff and new friends. Thanks to their warm welcome and hospitality, my feeling of anxiety, worry and fear about the new life and new semester, which felt cold in my heart like a winter weather of January, got transformed into motivation, joy and excitement. Cross-Cultural Mentors from all over the world, volunteers and staff became my friends and support during the first week and they assisted me to step into the whole new experience in this new culture. It was a big step for me as someone who grew up in one country, South Korea, for more than 20 years.

I traveled to the U.S. with other students who are from the same university. A long journey with a few flights brought me to Fayetteville. Finally, we arrived in the hotel where we stayed for a few nights as our temporary housing before moving into our residence halls. Soon after we got to Fayetteville, Arnold (Visiting Student Program Coordinator) and Danilo (Arrival Coordinator for the International Students Orientation) also arrived and helped us. We hit it off quickly and went to have dinner together. We spent the weekend together as well before the orientation started.

Everything was new: from attending Immigration Basics Session in ISS to visiting different offices on campus, from going to make a school ID to setting up an e-mail account. Arnold, Danilo and others helped us to complete all the basic steps to prepare ourselves as UofA students even prior to all those scheduled events and programs during the orientation week. It made our transitions so much smoother! Addition to it, class registration was another challenging experience for me. With kind advice and full support, I managed to handle all the tasks to become a Razorback!

The Orientation Week was full of fun programs and important information that were helpful and enjoyable. All the scheduled programs and sessions were not too early or too late and I appreciate that same sessions were provided in different schedules multiple times in order to accommodate our individual schedules as well. This structure allowed me to have some time for myself to explore and get to know the campus atmosphere and different facilities.

I was impressed by that staff, CCM and volunteers were multitasking to deal with class registrations and other tasks to assist new-comers who did not know where to go and what to do — including myself. They were always busy but never looked exhausted or anything even though it was such a busy week. Some already knew some words in different languages and I was surprised that some were familiar with different cultures as well, which made me feel comfortable.

Volunteers who took me to different places in Fayetteville during the orientation and people who helped me throughout the week were like a searchlight for me to adjust to the new place and start my new life in the U.S. smoothly.

Tonight (1/20/2012), I am attending the International Culture Team’s Kick-off event and I am looking forward to it! I hope I’ll get to see people I met during the orientation again as a member of Razorbacks!

by Gamram Baik

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and thoughts about the first week of your stay! Those warm messages are always our motivation to work in ISS! We are so, so, so happy that everybody arrived safely and started their semester! — Nami