The language isn’t the same. The culture is completely different. The food is disgusting. The weather is strange. “Home” is thousands of miles away.
These are just a few of the stresses that foreign students encounter when they come to SMU from abroad. Add to the mix the pressure of competing in Division I sports, and you get an idea of how trying life can be for SMU’s international athletes as they adjust to living in a new country.
SMU coaches, teachers and administrators hope to make the transition as smooth as possible by providing study halls, tutors and flexible homework deadlines when the athletes travel for competition. But, for many of SMU’s international athletes, assimilating into American culture is simply a matter of willpower.
“[Being an athlete] does make it tougher,” said Mouhammad Faye, a junior on the men’s basketball team. “There’s the language barrier, and you get less time than regular students because of practice, weight room and travel.”
John Wheeler, director of the English as a Second Language Program, has worked with international students at SMU since 1998. While he realizes that athletes face different circumstances than normal students, he believes that both groups are likely to succeed in the classroom.
“These athletes are so motivated, and they appreciate the opportunity to do two things at once,” said Wheeler. “They probably would get a scholarship at home, but not an undergraduate degree from a prestigious American university.”
The ESL program offers specialized courses and support for international students, including athletes, who struggle to speak and write in English. It allows the students a non-threatening environment to improve their language skills and adjust to the stresses that accompany such a difficult transition.
Sophomore swimmer Sascha Van den Branden, a Belgium native, took two semesters of an ESL rhetoric course. She said that she experienced a difficult adjustment period because she was not confident in her ability to communicate effectively. But, after a few months, she improved her English and assimilated into American culture. She is especially grateful for the support that her teammates and coaches offered.
“They’re my second family,” Van den Branden said. “I wouldn’t have come here if it wasn’t for the team … The upperclass girls helped take care of me.”
She rewarded her newfound family by earning Conference USA Freshman of the Year honors last spring, and she helped the Mustangs finish 11th at the NCAA Championships. She is one of 11 swimmers on SMU’s 25-person roster who was born in another country.
“There is a small niche of international swimmers who are really looking for an education and to have an elite swimming experience at the same time,” said SMU women’s swimming and diving head coach Steve Collins. “We really try to hone in on them [when recruiting overseas].”
The SMU men’s basketball team is also bulking up the presence of international athletes on its roster. Four of 13 players on the team were born overseas, and three of them – Faye, Papa Dia and Bamba Fall – are from Senegal. None of them spoke English fluently when they came to the U.S.
Faye began his college career at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he was offered a scholarship on the basketball team. He said that he spent his first semester in an intensive English course, then began normal curriculum during his second semester.
“It was hard,” said Faye. “I didn’t get to go to high school or prep school in America, so the language barrier pushed me back. I had to take a semester of English classes just to understand what the teacher was saying.”
Faye, who transferred to SMU last spring, now understands four languages: English, French, Spanish and Wolof – his native tongue.
Dia and Fall, who attended prep schools before coming to SMU, also experienced the same struggles. Dia, a sophomore, went to school in Connecticut, which endures much colder winters than Senegal. Fall, who will graduate in May, said his biggest adjustment was learning to live without his family.
While non-English speaking athletes often face immense challenges when they hit campus, the adjustment period usually doesn’t take longer than a semester, according to several coaches.
“No doubt, you see them start to come out of their shell and express themselves better in English after the first semester,” said men’s swimming assistant coach Andy Kershaw.
Collins recalled a swimmer from Holland, who had vast difficulties during her first semester at SMU. But she adjusted academically and became one of the top students in the economics department, he said.
In the end, coaches and players agree that cultural diversity on a team’s roster benefits all parties. International athletes often record successful seasons and do well in the classroom, and other players on the team benefit because they learn about other cultures.
“Coming here, athletes have an opportunity to have an international experience in the United States,” said Kershaw. “It’s not easy to say that at other universities.”
