SMU has an international student body of nearly 700 students representing 81 countries of the world. Since these students come from different environmental, cultural and religious backgrounds, they have to go through some hurdles in their initial years.
The most common hurdles are getting to know people and finding familiar food.
“When I first came to SMU and was attending a lot of the first-year programs, I realized that a lot of the first years knew each other, and that struck me as odd because I did not know any of them so I thought maybe I was doing something wrong, Aatique Shaikh, a junior from Botswana, said. “But in the end I realized that most of them went to Mustang Corral and AARO and that’s how they knew each other, whereas I did not even know about those programs or even the possibility of attending them.”
Dorms provide some help to international students in meeting with other people and settling in, as Shaikh said, “Living in dorms was not a problem.” Che Lewer, a senior from South Africa who lived in Shuttles, said, “It was fun to live in dorms. It makes it easy to mix with everyone.” SMU has 14 residence halls, including “theme halls” for honors students, arts students, students who are active in community service and students who prefer a substance-free environment.
Finding familiar food is another major problem amongst international students, Varun Sharma, senior from India, said, “Food was a big issue because I am a vegetarian and it’s kind of hard to come around if someone is a vegetarian.” This point is further corroborated by Shaikh who said, “Food was an issue because I have dietary requirements as I only eat Halal (Muslim method of killing animal for food) chicken and meats, so when I went to the cafeteria I could only eat the vegetables and seafood which limited my options greatly.” Edmundo Lazcano, a graduate from Mexico, said, “Going to cafeteria once in a while was fun, but not everyday. Otherwise, you get tired.”
Currently SMU is conducting a survey for the dining services, aiming to help students voice their opinion about their dining preferences. Students can go on the site http://www.collegediningsurvey.com/smu and fill out the survey form, which would help the dining service provider cater to the different preferences.
Some students say stereotyping and culture shock are problems that international students have to face. Lewer said, “I felt I was stereotyped.” Lewer believes that meeting new people, especially from different cultures, helps to open an individual’s mind. But somehow students in SMU are not ready to accept this diversity. “SMU students are extremely narrow-minded,” she said. “They should come out of their comfort zone and live their lives to max.”
Stefanie De Roux, a senior from Panama, said that she had a major culture shock when she saw the way girls dressed at SMU. “Back home we dress in uniforms, with little or no makeup and no jewelry,” she said.
On the other hand, Chintan Thakkar, a graduate from India, did not suffer any culture shock. “I have watched many English movies,” he said. “So I know a little about free culture.”
To help students to settle in, SMU International Office conducts special orientation twice a year, but in this orientation legal issues are discussed rather then everyday issues. For example, students are advised on immigration matters, or how to maintain their status. International Office helps students by arranging visits to campus by the officials from the Social Security office. Though these things are important none of these help an international student in dealing with day-to-day problems, students said.
“Meeting people was hard. I wanted to get into sororities, but found out about it after some time,” De Roux said. “International orientation should at least inform you about it. I would have liked to know how to get into one.”
There are a few international organizations, where international students can take active part: Asian Council, College Hispanic American Students, Indian Student Association, Persian Student Society, International Women’s Group and International Friendship Program. Among these, International Women’s Group and International Friendship Program specially work towards helping international students.
Through International Friendship Program, international students meet American families who live in the Dallas community. In this program, each student is matched with an American family who shares friendship, culture and traditions.
International Women’s Group helps international students in adjusting to life in Dallas and learn how to have the best experience in Dallas. For more information, contact Joan Hallman at [email protected] or Barbara Bodmer at [email protected].
