Being an international student in Minnesota from Albania, my foreign experience began with me attending a workshop back in my home country, after which I decided to apply to an American university. It was like a dream for me and I did not think I could make it happen. My family was convinced that I could go to any university I wanted but, America looked so far away from my family and everything that was familiar to me. I was taking advanced courses in high school so I could be prepared for my college courses since I had always dreamed of studying abroad. I started learning English by the age of 7, and until I finished high school I was able to speak a total of six languages which are Albanian, English, Italian, German, Spanish, and Turkish, but I am able to understand many more languages too.

 

As of August 2019, my once-in-a-lifetime experience began. I was enrolled at Bethany Lutheran College, in Mankato, Minnesota. I started as a Biological Science major, which I loved. I have always been passionate about learning about the human body. I was so curious about the classes and especially enjoyed our laboratory classes. What I have observed during my time as an international student is that American people sometimes assume that their cultural norms and values are universally accepted or superior. It was hard for me to adjust at first, but I made it through. In Albania, I was never able to do laboratory classes, because our school system did not have the funds for that. At that moment I realized that American students are taught from a young age how to navigate with technology, which makes them more likely to get jobs easier, or even have easier access to the world in general, meanwhile, I was just used to reading books and doing an exam on paper.

 

When I came to the U.S. I was surprised that everyone used their laptop to do their assignments, so I needed to do the same too. I was introduced to a completely different academic world, which made me push myself even harder to succeed in this unknown world. I also started making friends from all over the world and wanted to get more involved on campus. I was able to join the World Club on campus, and also get a job on campus too. Being raised as a Muslim, attending a Christian college in the U.S. was a huge transition for me. I was expected to go to chapel every morning at 10:30 a.m. which was required for my religion classes. I was surprised with myself by how much I knew about the Bible. Christians and Muslims have a shared history, which has led to cultural exchange, intellectual dialogue, and sometimes conflict too. Both Christians and Muslims are monotheistic religions, which means they believe in the existence of only one God, and both religions also recognize several of the same prophets, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus (Isa in Islam). Even though it was hard to adapt, I was still excelling in my classes. I was taught from a young age that Christians and Muslims share common moral and ethical values, such as compassion, kindness, honesty, and the importance of helping people in need and being able to live a virtuous and ethical life. By being part of the school community, I was able to share my challenges on cultural adaptation and get feedback from my advisors and my fellow international students from Albania and from all over the world.

 

As I became more open-minded while still impacting my Albanian identity, and understanding the world better, I decided to transfer to Minnesota State University, Mankato where I had met most of my friends. One big influence of my transferring to Minnesota State University was my group of friends and the opportunity for me to be able to make more connections moving towards my future career as an occupational therapist. I continued as an Applied Health Science major, with a pre-occupational therapy track. Being at MNSU, I have had the opportunity to meet people from all over the world and learn about their traditions and cultures too. I’ve come to realize that by being able to approach different cultures with an open mind, I can see each culture for its own unique characteristics. I have come to understand better the values, and traditions that have shaped my perspective and behavior to who I am today. I have learned that is essential to avoid ethnocentrism and not think of other cultures solely based on the standards of my own. When it comes to making friends, I am more connected with other international students, and is easier to make connections with them, rather than having American friends. From my experience, most of them are not welcoming and do not understand my life situation, I can not just take a flight home and see my parents, as most of them can. I am not able to be near my family during holidays like they are. When I used to live in the dorms I used to see most of my American friends just pack their bags and go home for the weekend, meanwhile I would stay in my room and see my parents through the phone screen. I would miss most of the social events because I had to work to make a living, and that is how I lost some good friendships.

 

Another big difference I noticed is that most of the domestic students here, can not speak another language other than English or sometimes a little bit of Spanish. Me, being an international student, I can not fully express myself in English, and I need to speak in my language. There is a language barrier when I try to talk with domestic students, and since I do not understand most of the anecdotes they make, I just end up being awkward and disconnected from them. After that, I understood that other international students go through the same thing as me, so I started talking to them more, and I was welcomed by everyone. I happen to have most of my best friends from Ethiopia and Venezuela, and I always try to ask questions, for example, how are they able to find foods similar to their home country, since both of them have unique cuisine traditions. They always tell me they try to cook at their apartments, and that is like a piece that keeps them connected with their home country. I try to do the same, whenever I feel down, or I have had a bad day, I try to cook traditional Albanian food, just so I do not feel alone dealing with my college life. Since I have been at MNSU, I have been able to accomplish so much related to my personal and professional life too.

 

Being able to leave my small country at the age of 17, and move across the world to pursue my education, says a lot about my character and every international student's character. Additionally, I aim to travel to more different regions of the U.S. and be able to explore its diverse cultural landscape, and also get to build more connections with people from different cultures. I want to continue to educate myself about different cultures and be open to new experiences. I can not wait to add more languages to my list of knowledge!

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