As an ISEP Ambassador, we hope you will play a vital role in welcome the incoming ISEP exchange students to your university and help them have a successful experience. It wasn’t too long ago that you were in their shoes, arriving in a new country and trying to make sense of a different culture and possibly even a different language. Surely you remember those people from the host country that made you feel comfortable and welcome. Now it is your chance to do that for another student!
Your university’s international office may already have programs for international students. You could get involved in what they are already doing or you can organize other activities. Remember to collaborate with your ISEP Coordinator and International Office.
Here are some ideas:
- Give Predeparture Advice. ISEP will send you a list of all students who will be visiting your institution in the upcoming semester, along with their email addresses. You can send a welcome email to these students and make yourself available to answer their questions before they arrive. This can also be done via Facebook, and you might consider creating your own Facebook group for your visiting students.
- Assist with the Arrival Orientation. All ISEP universities will have some type of orientation for incoming students before classes begin, although possibly organized through the Admissions or International Office. Attending and helping with this event can be a great way to meet the incoming ISEP students. Talk with your ISEP Coordinator for more information and dates.
- Everyday Logistics. Helping incoming ISEP students can be simpler than you may think, but make a world of difference. Show them around campus and the neighborhood. Offer to drive students to a nearby store for shopping once a week. Explain the public transportation system and help them try it out. Make sure they know how to find out about activities and events on campus.
- Visit Sites of Interest. Just as when you were abroad, part of the experience is travel and seeing the sites. Take the visiting students to local spots of interest, especially those that may not be on a typical tourist map. Help them also find out about ways to tap into other planned trips available through the international office or recreation or off-campus experiences offices on campus.
- Social Activities. Show the international ISEP students what university social life is like in your country. Invite them to join you and your friends in your regular activities like parties, the cinema, sports events, barbeques, holiday celebrations, camping, etc. This is your chance to share your culture with them help them integrate and make friends with native students.
- Recruiting Helpers. As you plan your activities to promote the ISEP experience at study abroad fairs, class visits, or info sessions, invite an international ISEP student along. They can promote their countries and institutions and talk with interested students.
- Buddy Program. With the help of the ISEP Coordinator, set up a buddy program where each incoming ISEP student is matched up with a returned ISEP student or other study abroad returnee. The local buddy will meet the international ISEP student within the first couple days of arrival, show them around campus, orient them, help get them settled, etc. The local buddy can serve as a resource about the culture, the academic system, language, etc., especially during the first few weeks.
- Conversation Partners. Set up a program where a returned ISEP student is matched with an international student for conversation practice in both students’ languages. Alternatively, you could hold a weekly language discussion group for all incoming students. While incoming ISEP students may arrive with a high level of language proficiency, there is always more to learn such as slang, idiomatic expressions, colloquialisms, etc. The returned ISEP student could also get a chance to practice the language they studied while abroad. Good conversation topics include food, dating, and holidays.
- International Coffee Hour. Each month, a different country has a day to have a display table in a campus coffee shop that includes photos, maps, crafts, snacks, etc. from that country. International ISEP students from the country and returned ISEP students who’ve studied abroad in that country stay at the table and chat with those who are interested.
- International Film Night. Organize a weekly or monthly international film night where international ISEP students suggest films form their home countries and then lead a post-movie discussion.
- International Dinner. Cooking recipes from around the world can be very entertaining, not to mention delicious. Gather the international students and have a bring-your-national-dish night.