International

Congratulations and welcome to Columbia, all you international baby lions and bears! Some of you will be traveling across different continents and oceans to join us next fall. To make that transition a little bit easier, Spectrum has put together some advice to ease your worries and help you adjust to college life in a new country.

Congratulations once again, class of 2023, on your acceptance to Columbia and Barnard! Some of you baby lions and bears will be joining us from places from far, far away and will probably be attending the International Student Orientation Program at Columbia or the International Pre-Orientation Program at Barnard.

When I first moved to Oklahoma from Beijing in 2012, I was not only shocked by the number of cows and hay bales in the empty fields, but by the difference between how Americans and the Chinese express their political opinions. My fellow Oklahomans often asked me about my opinions on China’s foreign policies and government structure. Their openness and directness caught me off guard, and I didn’t know how I should answer their questions about censorship and such. More importantly, I didn’t know how my answers might further deepen their misconceptions about China—so most of the time, I ended up not answering their questions at all.

International students in Columbia College and the School of General Studies will be able to apply for employment authorization through Curricular Practical Training starting this summer, potentially allowing students to work for an additional twelve months within the U.S. and alleviating application fees, following a policy change finalized Monday.

In the summer of 2017, Hooshmand Shokri Razaghi, then an Iranian third-year Ph.D. student in Columbia’s computer science department, decided to complete an express entry application to receive permanent Canadian residency. Part of his application, called “landing,” required him to fly to Canada and interview with the Canada Border Services Agency. Since Shokri Razaghi was only given one year to complete this interview, he would have to travel to Canada before finishing his Ph.D. program.

Columbia College prides itself on being a liberal arts college, and I wholeheartedly support that vision of higher education. College is a place for intellectual journey, where one can hone critical thinking skills fueled by creativity and curiosity. It is where students of different backgrounds gather to engage in discourse and dialogue, symbolized by seminar-style Core courses like Lit Hum or Contemporary Civilization.

This past fall, I boarded a bus and trekked to what I believed to be a myth prior to visiting—the Baker Athletics Complex. My venture beyond 116th was to support our beloved (only when they’re winning, of course) Lions play Princeton in the season’s “home opener.” Three of the team’s offensive linemen and their only punter shared a Carman wall with me last year, and as a result, I graciously listened to three fourths of their conversations as a source of drama, action, and entertainment. Thus, I felt a moral responsibility to reciprocate support for them. This was in contrast with my feelings last October, when I felt absolutely no obligation towards this team. When my mother and brother visited me during Family Weekend, I remember their response to my posited Homecoming inquiry: “Football? Shu football?” translating to “What football?”

When one has a horrible day or goes through a breakup, where does one go to cry unrelentingly? Most likely to the bathroom, just as the titular character in Miriam Grill’s thesis production of “Medea” did.

The Office of Multicultural Affairs has appointed Vanessa Gonzalez-Siegel, TC ’17, to serve as the associate director of multicultural affairs and LGBTQ outreach, and Alison Jackson to serve as associate director of multicultural affairs and international student support following several months without permanent representatives for either position.

In response to Columbia’s growing international student population, as well as student concerns regarding space and accessibility, Director of the International Students and Scholars Office David Austell announced that the office will be hiring four new staff members and plans to expand its office space.