Rice program helps international students adjust to living in America

Rice program helps international students adjust to living in America

BY ARIE WILSON
Rice News staff

The Friends of International Students and Scholars (FISS) program is helping ease the anxiety that comes from moving to an unfamiliar country, embracing a foreign culture and studying in a secondary language.

Raquel Cameron remembers having feelings of trepidation and uncertainty when she moved from Colombia to Houston without knowing anyone.

Photo by Jeff Fitlow

Ken Madsen talks with an international student who has only been in the U.S. for a short time. Each year at a potluck dinner, the Rice Office of International Students and Scholars and the Institute of International Education pair international students with Rice employees and Houston-area community members. The goal is to help the students acclimate to their new surroundings.

“It’s a very strange experience,” Cameron said of her enrollment at the University of Houston (UH) in 1987 at the age of 17. “At that point, I was still struggling with the [English] language.”

Cameron said she was informally paired with a family through UH, and the security of having Americans to confide in provided great relief.

When Cameron and her husband, Dirk, a Rice graduate, learned about the FISS program through an announcement at their church, they wanted to quickly become involved.

“It was so nice to have someone to confide in and to call with all kinds of questions,” Cameron said. “If it hadn’t been for [the host family], my experience here would have been completely different.”

About 70 international students gathered at St. Paul’s Methodist Church for the annual FISS Pot Luck Dinner Aug. 18.

During the event, the Camerons met Rice graduate students Ehsan Aryafar and Noe Alvarez.

Along with their children, the Camerons hope to support Aryafar and Alvarez by explaining cultural differences they may face.

Aryafar, a communications and networking student from Iran, heard of programs such as FISS from a friend of his father who had spent time in the United States.

After only three days in the country, Aryafar decided to attend the FISS dinner in hopes of making friends.

Alvarez, a native of Bolivia studying chemistry, had picked up a flyer promoting the gathering and decided to attend.

“I thought I would come and see,” Alvarez said. Having spent time studying in the Chicago area and in Louisiana, Alvarez was more acquainted with the American culture, but said he still found the experience helpful.

Adria Baker, director of the Office of International Students and Scholars, said the dinner was a huge success. “Everyone that attended left with a friend,” she said.

The event was largely attended by members of the community, in addition to Rice employees, Baker said.

“One of my goals is to have more events like this one in the community,” Baker said. “We are going to focus on organizations that are near or connected to Rice for support.”

The program is made possible through collaboration with the Institute of International Education (IIE).

Along with administering the U.S. government’s Fulbright Program, IIE provides international affairs programs and visitor and protocol services.

For more information on the FISS program, contact Baker at 713-348-6095.