Foreign students find a whole new world at UNL
By Adam Branting
Staff Reporter
For many students going to college
is a big adjustment, but for Mostafa
Khattab from Egypt, it’s a whole new
world.
“Everything is different. You have no
family, no friends, so you start making
friends. It’s very uncomfortable,’’ Khat
tab said.
Taylor, who handles foreign admis
sions, said that students from 80 coun
hhattab is one of over 1,000 students
from other countries at UNL, said D.
Lynn Taylor, assistant director of admis
sions.
tries attend UNL. He said he feels both
the foreign students and the American
students benefit from this international
integration.
“I think they bring a whole new view
and experiences to the classroom,”
said Taylor.
Bakaruddin Tuha, an architecture
mjyor from Malaysia, said he agrees
with Taylor. He said he believes it is
very important for foreign students to
get involved with other Americans and
in the community.
“In Malaysia, we are involved in our
society very close. The 1ES (Internat
ional Educational Services) helps us
get in touch with organizations here,”
Taha said.
“Must of my time at UNL I spend in
an architecture studio with my Ameri
can friends,” he said.
But Khattab, who has attended UNL
for four years studying engineering,
said he still feels a hesitancy by Ameri
cans towards him.
“People aren’t used to being with a
foreign student and it is difficult for an
American student to talk to you,”
Khattab said.
Taylor says there are several reasons
why UNL attracts foreign students. He
attributes the city’s beauty and low
-■
crime rate, as well as its transportation
system. He cites the community’s re
ceptiveness toward the students, the
TES 10-day orientation program, IES’s
special "round trips” (to places like
Kansas City and Omaha) and its various
social and athletic events as very help
ful for foreign students to get assimilat
ed into the community.
In addition to IES programs, there
are 22 different clubs for students.
Some are for different nationalities,
others are athletic or social.
"The members of one group (the
Egyptian Student Organization) go to
the airport to meet incoming students.
We gather together occasionally to
talk,” said Khattab, the club’s presi
dent.
Kabir Hassan, a finance graduate
student from Bangladesh, said his coun
trymen have a very informal group.
The social aspects of these groups
are very important when it comes to
dealing with the students’ culture
shock.
"I used to cry every weekend... then
I started to get social,” Hassan said.
The foreign students came to UNL
for different reasons. Hassan received
an assistantship from UNL. Taha said
he was attracted by the low price,
1
which is very important for students
and the generally poor nations that
finance them. Hassan and the others
said that they weren’t overly impressed
by the university, but instead by its
various programs. Taylor and foreign
students are generally here for the
university’s architecture and engineer
ing courses.
Taylor said that the community and
UNL are trying to reverse the recent
decline in foreign enrollment by send
ing more literature and a special video
about UNL to U.S. Embassies across the
globe.
“There is a big interest by all the
deans (to keep a flow of foreign stu
dents) and an important part would be
to expand our English programs for
them, but we are restricted by two
other colleges (Doan and UNO) in how
much we can teach,” said Taylor.
After receiving their degrees, many
foreign students are undecided as to
what their future plans might be. Taha
wants to go back to his family, but then
he said he might return to the United
States. Others already have their careers
laid out for them.
“I am to return to Egypt and teaching
(engineering) at the University of
Cairo,” said Khattab.
-fHBT-1
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Editor’s Note:
Whether you ate lunch at Kuzo’s Kabob, met a
foreign student at Celebration or had a foreign
teaching assistant in one of your math classes, nearly
everyone on this campus interacts in some way with
international influences.
Over 1,000 foreign students attend UNL, coming
from 80 different countries. In Lincoln there is a
veritable plethora of restaurants owned by foreigners,
communities of immigrants and churches founded by
those that help refugees.
Those of us here can also broaden our perspective
by becoming involved in, or at least more aware of,
the foreign influences we encounter every day.
