This story is one within a multi-part series highlighting the aspirations, hopes and dreams of a few of Rowan University’s international students. Read our other stories.
Today’s Rowan Blog guest contributor, Daria Sapova of Moscow, Russia, reveals the unfiltered, raw thoughts and fears of her experience as an international student. Now a senior Advertising major, Daria is on track to graduate summa cum laude (“with highest honors”) as well with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Connect with Daria professionally through her LinkedIn.
I always wanted to live multiple lives simultaneously. But due to the biological reasons, it turns out to be impossible. “How disappointing”, I thought. However, I kept thinking of ideas to satisfy a hunger for new
experiences and slowly but surely came to an idea that ended up turning my life 180 degrees. Or, speaking of numbers, perhaps, I’d be more right if I said it brought me 4754 miles away from my old life. It took me approximately 4 hours of my life, 3 suitcases, and 1 bag to pack all of my life. Then it took me about 2 hours to get to the airport and 4 of my closest people to say “goodbye“ to. And after that 2 planes to take me into a new life while soaking in an endless amount of tears. The moment I landed was
not only the moment my life divided into “before” and “after”, but actually the birth of the second life I desired for so long. Getting straight to the point, I moved to study in another country.
Now, you might think I’m trying to scare you. Well, no need for me to do that. If you are reading this and already an international student too, you are already most likely terrified. So, instead, my main goal here is to reassure you that in addition to challenges, there are also many truly unique opportunities in studying abroad. There are going to be things in your journey that will make you want to quit, give up on everything, and go home. Been there, done that. But please don’t do this, don’t give up! At least always remember that if you do, you’ll lose your status as that one child in the family who moved to the other side of the world and comes back home once a year to all of the presents and warm greetings. And
below are the other objective reasons why studying abroad might’ve been the best decision you’ve ever made.
Breaking news: you’re not alone. Trust me, among thousands of students, you’re certainly not the only person who wasn’t born in the US. I’ve been here for 7 months now and have met people from Germany, the UK, India, Mexico, and other countries. You are killing two birds with one stone here by telling people about your country and your cultural heritage as well as learning about theirs (to be honest, a lot more pleasant than geography classes at school). And here we come to the first way of making friends in a
new place. The international community is extremely supportive and engaging and by being a part of it you’ll make dozens of connections around the world. So in the future, you could always fly to Italy to share pizza with this one friend, go surf in Australia, or climb the Eiffel Tower. The first lesson of immigration: connections are valuable.
Lesson number two: you are cool. Nobody is expecting you to recite Shakespeare by heart. People here understand that English isn’t your first language and as surprising as it might seem to you, they are okay with it. Of course, the language barrier and differences in educational systems can’t be easy, but never stop believing in yourself even for a second. Moving abroad has boosted my self-esteem like nothing before did. People will be interested in you because you’re different. You will get the spotlight because you’re different. So don’t waste the opportunity to show your potential and expose your talents along with your academic skills. And when it comes to school work, study smart, not hard. However, if it gets
hard, never hesitate to ask for help. Rowan provides a lot of services that will help you with your tasks and maintain a decent GPA. Because, hey, don’t forget, we gotta make the parents and all of our relatives proud!
Talk. Talking is a magic key that will help you overcome pretty much most problems you may face. Even if studying abroad was your dream and you are sure you won’t be feeling homesick, oh yes, you will, sooner or later. And it’s okay. Assimilation of new things is always tough. If you ever ask yourself a question like: “Will I ever get used to people eating most things deep-fried and asking “How are you?” whenever they can.” The answer is yes. You’ll get used to this and many other things. Awkward situations are inevitable. They’re just a part of the process. But they’re fun stories to tell your friends one day. The barista may misspell your name on the cup even though you spelled it letter by letter literally 30 seconds ago and end up making you “mocha” instead of “matcha”. Spoiler: your name and accent are too unique for the locals and they’re unused to these things just as you’re unused to their culture. Both parties just gotta make peace with it. Take your time. Talk to people as much as you can as that’s the only way to
fight the feeling of loneliness and getting in contact with locals is your fastest way of learning about cultural norms, social customs, and slang words. Missing home is alright. Calling your mom every 10 minutes is alright too. The most important piece of advice here is: don’t preserve yourself in this state by denying new things and holding onto the old ones.
Now that you’ve successfully built your new routine and become more confident in your day-to-day actions, start learning more about university life. I’m talking about student organizations, clubs, events, and trips. At the very least you’ll get free food at some of the events, at most you’ll make new friends and useful connections. Everyone needs a sense of belonging. And the ones like us, whose friends and family are thousands of miles away might need it a bit more than the others. Being a part of a club and participating in the activities provided by the university will significantly speed up the process of acquiring this feeling of affiliation.
Last but not least, don’t forget to rest. You might be surprised by this one considering the pressure of expectations from yourself, your friends, and your family, the fear of not fitting in, of not achieving an American dream, all added up to an ongoing productivity cult. But what I just said, these expectations and fears are exactly why you need to care about your mental and physical wellbeing even more than you used to. And no, not only because the medicine in this country is crazy expensive. You, unlike the local folks, on top of maintaining a high academic performance and speaking a foreign language on a daily basis have to deal with things such as visa issues, monitoring currency exchange rates every morning, and discrimination. There will be days when you just lay in your bed without a milligram of energy in your body. Just watch a good movie, eat your favorite ice cream, and come back to rocking the world. I don’t think I ever felt more proud of myself than in the moments of calling my parents and telling them everything I’ve achieved so far. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s a 4.0 GPA, getting into President’s Scholars of Excellence, making a new friend, or going to the bank all by myself. What matters is you’re doing the best you can and the people you love are supporting you in every part of your journey. Save yourself some nerve cells and remember that nothing will come to you right away. Good things take time and hard work. And that’s exactly why they say that success is a journey, not a destination.
I bet by getting to this point of the story you already can guess my answer to the question of whether studying abroad is worth it or not. It’s a “yes” from me. When I was afraid of not sure if I was making the right decision, my dad told me: “Just try. You’ll always have an opportunity to come back.” And at this point in life, I couldn’t agree with him more. Studying abroad is like unlocking a new level of the game with new characters, new locations, and new abilities. Despite the difficulties you may face, much more are the priceless experience and character development you get (and a bunch of stories you can tell your kids while sitting next to the fireplace one day). Trust me, coming back home for the holidays after a successful and fun semester never felt better. So, if you ever wanted to become Hanna Montana or Spiderman when you were a child, now it’s the time!
Click HERE for the International Center
Click HERE for information on International Admissions
Written by: Daria Sapova, senior advertising major
Edited by: Jordyn Dauter, senior double major in dance & elementary education
Photos by: Valentina Giannattasio, senior double major marketing & dance