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CULTURE FUSION
CULTURE FUSION FRIDAY: spirited display of diversity
PHOTO BY A.J. RUBIO | THE WICHITAN The students attending the culture fusion event, got to participate in a game of musical chairs as they listened to music from different cultures, Nov. 20.
PHOTO BY A.J. RUBIO | THE WICHITAN Anil Khanal, energy management graduate student, shows off his moves as he plays the challenge to match the dance to the song, Nov. 20.
ELIZABETH MAHAN REPORTER
One student wore a traditional Indian dress that matched the shade of the orange autumn leaves drifting from their trees and rustling in the wind. Another student, who had Grenada’s flag wrapped around his head as a bandana, laughed while conversing with his friend and waiting for the next game to start. Cultural Fusion Friday, a night of games, dance and food from Namaste Indian Restaurant, was part of the week full of events that the Global Education Office organized to celebrate International Education Week. on Nov. 20 at 6:30 p.m.
“The reason I had [cultural student organizations] help me plan this week is because historically, the international organizations on campus, ASO, MISA, CSO and other organizations that are inter- that they bring their ideas. bring their vibe all together to national, they don’t generally They bring their culture. They work together,” Tobin said. work together. Being a stu- Jesutobiloba Oladido, dent myself at MSU before, management informaI noticed that there was al- tion systems junior and ways tension between the president of the Afriorganizations, and now can Student Organizathat I am working at MSU tion, said this event was in the Global Education Of- a good opportunity for fice, not as a student but ASO to be represented. as an actual staff member, “We’re doing this to I wanted to use my plat- join together all of our form to get them working organizations,” Oladido together,” said Kamilah said. “I think it’s imporTobin, global education re- tant because we can both cruitment specialist. learn from other people
This is the first year on the other side of the MSU has held events world, apart from Amerithroughout International ca, so you can learn from Education Week, but Tobin other cultures.” said the Global Education One game students Office is hoping to make played was to listen this celebration an annual to music and attempt event so that international PHOTO BY A.J. RUBIO | THE WICHITAN to dance the cultural students continue to feel appreciated. “That was the idea beStudents arrived in their traditional garments to be welcomed and dance that they thought matched the music. Then, the hosts projected hind the whole week and checked in to the Culture Fusion the video that goes with Culture Fusion Friday is Friday Event, Nov. 20. the music to show the students what country the dance was from and what the dance actually looked like. A participant in this activity was Joshua Griffith, chemistry and math senior and cultural chair of the Caribbean Students Organization. He said as an international student from Grenada, he was interested to see what was on display at Culture Fusion Friday.
“It [International Education Week] allows me to see other people from other islands and get to experience what they have in their home place because as we know, each place is different culturally, so it opens my eyes to that,” Griffith said. “We’re in the United States of America, and most people don’t know how our cultures are back home. They may only know ‘Oh this is Caribbean,’ but they don’t know that the Caribbean is of many islands, and each one in their own way is very unique.”
Seth Skelton, senior associate director of global education, said International Education Week was an opportunity to communicate and have a dialogue with the people around us.
“We want the MSU Texas campus, and the Wichita Falls community, in general, to be more aware of our international students and their presence here. We recognize the culture that they bring, the different perspectives, the diversity. It just adds to the richness of the university. We recognize that, so it’s important to try to raise awareness, and have people from around Wichita Falls and around Texas to experience that and then for international students as well to be a part of the local community and have that interaction,” Skelton said.
Nov. 24, 2020 Campus Voices | Media | Satire | Covid-19 | News | International Students | Soccer Recap
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS SHARE THEIR STORIES
ELIZABETH MAHAN REPORTER
For some college graduates or current college students, thinking back to freshman year may bring back exciting but nerveracking memories, since they were immersed in a new community, a new home and a new chapter in life. For international students, adapting to the American college lifestyle and making this university their home away from home may take more time and commitment.
“We have a large Caribbean diversity here, so [MSU is] kind of like a home away from home, because we have people here who feel the same way that I do when it comes to missing home, and who comes from the same culture that I come from,” Tatiana Corbette, psychology senior, said.
Corbette’s home country, Dominica, or ‘The Land of 365 Rivers,’ is a Caribbean island with a
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANNISHA AARON Annisha Aaron gazes out at the water in her home country, Dominica. Aaron said, “I lived on the beach area, so there I open my back door, and there’s a beach right there. I miss that. I miss the freeness. You feel a little bit more free because it’s so small, and I feel like up here, sometimes my mind is on things like crimes and abduction and that kind of thing. I wouldn’t really think of that at home.”
population of about 72,000 people.
“It’s small, but it’s doable for me because I’m accustomed to it. I love it. It’s home. Home is where the heart is, and [I love] just being able to wake up in the morning, and from my room, I can see the beach. I can see the ocean. I can see mountains. I can hear birds chirping. It’s just paradise to me,” Corbette said.
Annisha Aaron, English senior, is also from Dominica, which is nicknamed ‘The Nature Isle of the Caribbean.’
“Before I came to Wichita Falls, I landed in New York. I stayed in New York for a week or two, so it didn’t really hit me that I was away; it still felt like a vacation. When we came to Texas and Wichita Falls, I was very overwhelmed, because it was so different. The grass was dry. It was getting into autumn, so everything was changing colors. That was a big difference for me because I’m used to bright greens, forests, and everything is just brown [here],” Aaron said.
While Aaron’s first impression of Wichita Falls was the lack of color on a Texas fall day, other students noticed the friendly, welcoming atmosphere on campus. Kishelle Licorish, mathematics senior, is from Grenada, a Caribbean country with a population of 111,454 people.
“My other times in America, I’ve gone to places like New York and New Jersey, and these cities are very much so more fast-paced than Wichita Falls. You have subways and all of these kinds of things, so originally coming across to Wichita Falls, I thought it was going to be a bit more fast-paced feeling, but then I saw it’s more calm and community-based,” Licorish said. “It sort of reminded me of home, since it’s more quiet, and you aren’t constantly hearing trains passing.”
Licorish and Aaron both expressed gratitude toward the Caribbean Students Organization for helping international students get oriented and answering any questions new students have about the school. For Aaron, the diversity on campus was something else to get used to.
“I’m not only with Caribbean people. It’s a bunch of other people, so [I am] kind of adapting to that, differences in different people. Back home I’m used to even if I speak broken English or with my accent, no one picks it up. When you’re here, you always have to kind of morph it a little bit to fit in, so that was a little hard,” Aaron said.
Corbette said she was friends with her roommate for ten years prior to attending MSU, so they immediately hit it off when she arrived. Corbette said she was glad to have the friendships that she made, and it wasn’t too hard for her to adjust, despite a negative encounter she had during her first week.
”Of MSU’s 450+ graduate and undergraduate international students”
67% are from the Caribbean 13% are from Asian countries 2% are from Latin American countries About 5% are from Europe About 8% from Africa The other 5% are from various countries
“I was walking with my roommate, and then this guy drove by, and they literally called us the N-word. That was my first week, so I was just like ‘Oh okay,’ but I didn’t let that deter me. I was just kind of still getting used to everything,” Corbette said.
One other challenge Corbette faced during her freshman year at MSU was hearing about a hurricane that hit Dominica a few weeks after she left for college.
“It really devastated the island, so it was just hard being away from home because you have your home is in shambles,” Corbette said.
Another international student, Rodrigo Quezada, finance junior, is from Guatemala. Quezada applied to colleges in America with the intention of playing soccer. After being accepted at MSU, Quezada tried out for the soccer team, but the team was already full for the season. He considered transferring to another university, but after a couple of months, MSU started to grow on him. He made friends, got involved with the Catholic Campus Ministry, and later joined the cycling team.
“They just gave me a bike, and I started with the cycling team, and they gave me shoes and then clothes, and now [I’ve been] a part of the cycling team since my freshman year. I couldn’t make it with the soccer team, but then I moved forward, and I was like ‘Okay,’ and now I’m doing cycling for MSU,” Quezada said.
Adam Conway, kinesiology junior from Waterford, Ireland, also found a home at MSU through its athletics. For him, it was his soccer teammates who helped him feel at home.
“Firstly, I would say that since the day I came here it felt like a home away from home. When I met my teammates, they wanted to get to know me straight away and make me fit in,” Conway said.
Quezada’s moving process was memorable because the man who picked him up from the airport was 30 minutes late.
“It was kind of hard for me because I moved during the summer, so I was expecting some-
PHOTO COURTESY OF TATIANA CORBETTE Tatiana Corbette poses in front of the flag of her home country, Dominica. Corbette said, “It’s always fun to tell people where I come from. I have American roommates, and I love to cook my Caribbean stuff for them, and they enjoy it. It’s fun to share my culture with other people.”
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INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS SHARE THEIR STORIES
have bad luck because every time I go to a new country or travel, and someone has to pick me up, they always arrive late,” Quezada said. “I
PHOTO COURTESY OF RODRIGO QUEZADA Rodrigo Quezada takes in the view at his parents’ restaurant called La Cabaña De Don Robert, which is located in the mountains of Tecpán, Chimaltenango in Guatemala. Quezada said, “I miss my parents’ business. They have a restaurant, so I work and get involved in that a lot. I talk to a lot of customers and meet people there, and that’s what I love to do.”
was waiting in the airport, but I’m very scared because you don’t know what to do, and you don’t know the city.”
After arriving on campus, Quezada’s first week continued to surprise him.
“He told me, ‘Hey, we’re going to Walmart. You just leave your stuff in the dorm, and we’ll go to Walmart.’ I was like, ‘Why do I need to go to Walmart? I bought a meal plan. I don’t need to buy stuff,’ and he was like, ‘No you need to go buy pens, and blankets, and pillows,’ and I was like, ‘I thought MSU provides all that stuff.’ I was expecting a room set up. When I came here, no room, no pillows, nothing. I was like ‘Oh my goodness,’” Quezada said.
Quezada began to figure out all the little things that come with being a first-year student like where to get a campus ID card made and how to print on campus. He said he loved some things about America, but one part of “Over there back home in Guatemala, every- go back, I’m going to miss it here, well certain Guatemala that Quezada said he refuses to let thing is more fresh. Here everything is already things here, not everything,” Joseph said. go of is the way he greets people. “I really like hugs, and we kiss a lot when we say hi to someone in Guatemala, so if you come [frozen]. You put it in the microwave and then done. You eat it, and it’s really nice. I like it. I love fries. I love burgers, pizza and all the froCorbette said she would love to go back home after graduation, but she doesn’t think to Guatemala, probably I’ll kiss your cheek. zen pizzas. I love everything, but over there it’s she would be able to properly pursue her pasThat’s kind of something hard [to get used to]. kind of different like for breakfast, what you sion, psychology. Here it’s just shaking hands, and no one hugs. have is eggs and beans and all this stuff. Every- “I wouldn’t be able to get a good job that I reWhen I came here, I was like ‘Oh I’m going to thing is fresh made at the moment,” Quezada ally love doing in psychology back home, so I’m hug,’” Quezada said. For Emily Ineson of Berkhamested, England, it was the inclusivity and diversity of the said. Building a home away from home may cause some international students to miss America if going to stay up here and try to get experience as much as possible, and then go back home, campus community that made her love her for- they return to their home countries after grad- so I can bring back that [experience] home and eign university. uation. practice, and contribute to my country because
“I love MSU Texas, because it is incredibly “If I stay here, definitely I would miss home they’re the ones that helped me to come up here. inclusive and accepting of everyone, from a ll around the world. This creates an amazingly diverse community that thrives with so much uniqueness and individuality, because of the because you always miss home, but also if I go home, I think there are certain things here that are more accessible compared to home since this is a developed country, and my country is America still has its possibilities, but home will always be home,” Corbette said. Conway says the welcoming environment range that exists. It’s a place that makes every- a developing country. Certain things, I would and high-quality facilities have made him never one feel at home, yet special, Ineson said. definitely miss [about America]. Basically, it want to leave MSU, which is a feeling he claims
Trestelle Joseph, business management senior and international student from Dominica, said the culture was not the hardest thing for her to get used to about America.
“In the Caribbean, I feel like we’re very much open to American culture because we watch American shows all the time and order clothes from America all the time, but food in Wichita Falls is depressing. In the Caribbean, we have grown provisions, and we eat them every day, so that’s what I was used to, and here we don’t have them. You can’t get fresh meat here or fresh fish. You have to go all the way to Dallas, and I don’t have a car,” Joseph said.
Corbette said when she visits home in Dominica, she stocks up on her favorite food supplies from home, so she has a taste of home with her in Wichita Falls. She brings back local snacks, spices like nutmeg, some of her mom’s homemade food, and cacao, PHOTO COURTESY OF ADAM CONWAY which she described as raw chocolate to make tea with. Adam Conway plays in his native Ireland’s national team jersey.
“You come up here, and you really have to works either way. Some people tell you that every international student longs for. adapt. You have to change your diet and stuff. when you move away from it, you miss it,” Lico- “When it came to class, the teachers and adYou miss [food from home], but what can you rish said. visors did all they could for me so I could sucdo? You just have to adapt to it all,” Corbette said. Quezada said although the food in America After she graduates in December, Joseph said she wants to get a job and then later pursue a master’s degree, although she has no ceed. Being at MSU and looking at how good our facilities are makes me want to stay here was different from Guatemala, he didn’t mind plans set in stone for where she will live. forever, and that’s something that every interthe change. “I feel like if I’m here, I miss home, and if I national student wants,” Conway said.
