Adrian Chimboza

A:

I know a lot of you wonder what it means or what it feels like to be an international student at Dartmouth, and I am going to take this blog to answer this question from my own perspective. Firstly, there is no one universal Dartmouth International student experience. So, to answer this question, I will use my own experience as an international student.

Saying my own experience as an international was awesome would be an underestimate. It was more than awesome. On the social side, meeting new people from different walks of life and cultures (Ghana, Hawaii, Kenya, The Bronx, Beijing, Tokyo, and Tanzania) allowed me to appreciate my own culture, and where I was from, Zimbabwe. In my first fall term during orientation, I took part in first-year trips, Museum Exploration. To say I am a museum type of person would be a lie. The reason I chose this trip was that I wanted to try out something new, something that allowed me to get out of my comfort zone, and at the same learn new things that I couldn't have learned from doing what I had already been accustomed to doing. Looking back, I can say that if I could repeat my first-year trips all over again I would. Why? Because of the people I met and connected with on a personal level: a group of unique individuals with different thoughts about the world and what it means to be a good person.

As an international student, making friends shouldn't be a challenge because of the way Dartmouth's orientation program is designed. It is crafted in a way that allows you to interact with different groups of students at different places and events across campus. Post-orientation, there are different ways in which you can also meet new people and make friends, that is, through student organizations, student events, and even classes. 

On the academic side, Dartmouth has all that you need, from generous and thoughtful professors to the academic skills center, where you can get tutored at zero cost! Can you believe that?

Financially, all international students are eligible to get an on-campus job, and this allows you to earn a few dollars to spoil yourself there and then, maybe by buying domino's pizza or going to watch Spiderman: No Way Home. Even on breaks, Dartmouth will make sure that you feel at home through social school events and subsidized meals at local restaurants.

In short, as an international student at Dartmouth, try to get out of your comfort, find a community that accepts you for who you are, and have fun.