Bringing an International Community to Roger Williams University

 

There were many things Miranda Rojas had never done in her life.

Born and raised in San Jose, Costa Rica, the 19-year-old had never been to neighboring countries in South America, let alone North America. She had never met a Muslim person. She had never even used public transportation¹.

All of that would change once Rojas completed high school and came to study at a university in the U.S. in 2016.

Rojas says when she was younger her parents were a little strict. But when it came to higher education, her parents wanted her to have as much freedom and independence as possible. They encouraged her to study at a university outside of Costa Rica, she says.

Both of her parents were international students. Her mother earned a master’s degree at Marymount University in the U.S. state of Virginia. Her father earned an undergraduate² degree from Cornell University and earned his master’s from the University of Pennsylvania.

They wanted Rojas and her sister to see what the world outside their country might offer them, she says. But it was her father who pushed her to follow their path.

"He loved his experience, and he learned³ a lot. He says it changed him. So he wanted that for us too. And they always, like, encouraged us to apply to universities, to take the SAT, take the TOEFL, go look at universities."

At first, Rojas wanted to attend a large school for her undergraduate studies. She says she believed only a big school would have international students and American students of different races and backgrounds. So her first choice was Syracuse University in New York, a school of almost 22,000 students.

But her high school guidance⁴ counselor⁵ asked Rojas to consider the more personal experience a smaller college or university might provide. In the end, she listened to this advice and chose to study psychology⁶ at Roger Williams University.

Formed in 1956, Roger Williams is a private liberal⁷ arts school in Bristol, Rhode Island. The university has about 4,800 students. And the campus⁸ sits on the coast of Mt. Hope Bay⁹, about an hour southeast of the city of Providence¹⁰. In fact, beautiful water surrounds the town of Bristol on three sides.

Rojas was a little worried about how white the student population at Roger Williams was when she first arrived. The U.S Department of Education’s College Scorecard states that about 73 percent of the students there are white. And Rojas thought that as a foreigner and a Latina, people would treat her like an outsider.

However, Rojas quickly found friends among the international students she met through the Intercultural Center at Roger Williams. The Intercultural Center is an office at the school that helps international students with their academic and social lives. It offers study help and hosts special events. It is also a place for international students to relax with each other and their friends.

Rojas says that through the Intercultural Center, she has made friends from all over the world. This includes people from countries whose people she never thought she would meet, like Rwanda and Saudi Arabia.

And while she first thought her race or nationality¹¹ would separate¹² her from American students, she could not have been more wrong, Rojas says. She says that Americans are much less open to meeting strangers than people are in Costa Rica. Yet once her classmates started to learn she is an international student, they all were happy to meet her and had many questions about her life back home.

However, for Qiming Li the main difficulty¹³ as an international student was not just making friends with Americans. He says he also struggled with being treated equally¹⁴.

Li is from Guangzhou, China. He came to the U.S. in 2009 to finish his last two years of high school at the private Darrow School in New York.

Even though he had been living in the U.S. for three years, Li says his English still was not as strong as it could have been when he started at Roger Williams in 2012.

Li says the students treated him differently because of this. Once, while working on a group project, the other members of his group tried to do his share of the work for him, he says. He believes they did so because they did not believe he understood his responsibilities¹⁵.

Li did not let this anger him. He simply told his group members that he was actually able to do the work himself. And ever since, he has seen the challenges¹⁶ of living in a foreign country and studying in a different language as a way of proving himself.

In fact, Li completed his undergraduate degree in history in spring 2016. He then chose to start a master’s degree program in historical¹⁷ preservation¹⁸ at Roger Williams the following fall.

Like Rojas, Li also says he owes¹⁹ a lot to the support he received from the Intercultural Center. He says the students and staff he has met through the center never judge him. And while he has faced some difficulties²⁰ dealing²¹ with American students, he still has learned a lot from them.

"If I did not came here … I think my views on a lot of things would be different. In this school you have students from everywhere, people from U.K., from South Africa. And you have people from the southern part, the west coast of the U.S. You kind of get an opinion of how everyone feels about different things."

I’m Dorothy Gundy

And I'm Pete Musto.

Words in This Story

strict – adj. demanding that people obey rules or behave in a certain way

encourage(d) – v. to make someone more likely to do something

master’s degree – n. a degree that is given to a student by a college or university usually after one or two years of additional²² study following a bachelor's or 4-year undergraduate degree

undergraduate degree – n. a degree that is given to a student by a college or university usually after four years of study

apply – v. to ask formally for something, such as a job, admission²³ to a school, or a loan²⁴, usually in writing

background(s) – n. the experiences, knowledge, and education in a person's past

guidance counselor – n. a person whose job is to give help and advice to students about educational and personal decisions

campus – n. the area and buildings around a university, college, or school

academic – adj. of or relating to schools and education

nationality – n. the fact or status of being a member or citizen of a particular nation

challenge(s) – n. a difficult task or problem

1 transportation   

n.运输，运输系统，运输工具

参考例句：

• The transportation of goods by air costs a lot.航空运输货物花费很高。
• He finally solved the difficulty of transportation.他终于解决了运输的困难。

2 undergraduate   

n.大学生，大学肆业生

参考例句：

• Mr. Stone spent his undergraduate days in Columbia University,majoring in economics.斯通先生在哥伦比亚大学度过了他四年的大学生活，主修经济学。
• During this time,they are called undergraduate students.在此期间，他们被称为大学本科生。

3 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

4 guidance   

n.指导，领导

参考例句：

• Under his father's guidance,he learned how to swim.他在父亲的指导下学会了游泳。
• It is hoped you will give us guidance.请你多加指导。

5 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

6 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

7 liberal   

adj.心胸宽阔的；自由(主义)的；慷慨的

参考例句：

• He has a liberal attitude to divorce and remarriage.他对离婚和再婚看得很开。
• This country adopts a liberal foreign policy.该国采用的是开放的外交政策。

8 campus   

n.大学校园，学校校园；大学　

参考例句：

• They spoke of the old days on the campus.他们谈起昔日的校园生活。
• The campus covers an area of twenty square kilometres.这个校园占地二十平方公里。

9 bay   

n.海湾，狗吠声，月桂；vt.吠，使走投无路；vi.吠

参考例句：

• I enjoy the view of the bay in the starlight.我喜欢星光下的海湾风景。
• Dogs sometimes bay at the moon.狗有时会朝着月亮吠叫。

10 providence   

n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝

参考例句：

• It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat.乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
• To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence.照你的所作所为那样去行事，是违背上帝的意志的。

11 nationality   

n.国籍；国家；部落；民族

参考例句：

• I am of Chinese nationality.我是中国籍。
• She lives in France but has British nationality.她住在法国但拥有英国国籍。

12 separate   

n.分开，抽印本；adj.分开的，各自的，单独的；v.分开，隔开，分居

参考例句：

• Are they joined together or separate?它们是合在一起还是分开的？
• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering.洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。

13 difficulty   

n.困难，费劲；难事，难题；麻烦，困境

参考例句：

• If there is any difficulty,please let us know promptly.倘有困难，请迅速通知我们。
• A little difficulty like this is nothing to us.这点困难算不了什么。

14 equally   

adv.平等地；公平地

参考例句：

• Divide the cake into quarters and share it equally.把蛋糕分成四份，大家平均享用。
• The blue sky belongs equally to us all.蓝天为人所共有。

15 responsibilities   

责任( responsibility的名词复数 )； 职责； 责任感； 责任心

参考例句：

• the disproportion between the extra responsibilities and the small salary increase 额外的责任与小幅增加的薪金之间的不相称
• The job encompasses a wide range of responsibilities. 这项工作涉及的职责范围很广。

16 challenges   

n.挑战( challenge的名词复数 )；要求；（警卫等）查问口令；怀疑

参考例句：

• Many challenges, abroad and at home, have arrived in a single season. 国内和国外的众多挑战出现在同一个时刻。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• The new democracies face tough challenges. 这些新兴的民主国家面临着严峻挑战。 来自辞典例句

17 historical   

adj.历史的，史实的，历史上的

参考例句：

• The book is based on historical events.这本书是根据历史事件写成的。
• We have shared the same historical experiences.咱们有着共同的历史遭遇。

18 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

19 owes   

v.亏欠，负债，感恩；感激( owe的第三人称单数 )；应把…归功于；欠…债；（对位高权重者）忠诚

参考例句：

• He owes a lot of money to Mr. Smith. 他欠史密斯先生许多钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 difficulties   

n.困难( difficulty的名词复数 )；难度；难事；麻烦

参考例句：

• I am acutely aware of the difficulties we face. 我十分清楚我们面临的困难。
• the difficulties of English syntax 英语句法的难点

21 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

22 additional   

adj.添加的，额外的，另外的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to set down these additional rules.有必要制定这些补充规则。
• I think we can fit in an additional room.我想我们可以再加建一间房子。

23 admission   

n.允许进入；承认；入场费，入会费，入场券

参考例句：

• We attached a condition to his admission to our school.我们对准许他入校附加了一个条件。
• By her own admission,she was responsible for the accident.她自己承认，事故应该由她负责。

24 loan   

n.贷款；借出的东西；借；vt.借出；贷予

参考例句：

• I asked the bank to help me with a loan.我请银行给我一笔贷款。
• Has the bank okayed your request for a loan?银行批准你的贷款要求了吗？