By Emily Baltz
As she prepared for her first year at Richmond this summer, Elizabeth Boone was excited to receive the mailing that would introduce her to her new roommate. She tried to guess what state she would be from and what her name would be, wondered if they would become friends, and envisioned their first phone conversation.
"I'm from a part of the country where all the girls get matching comforters and furniture for their dorm rooms so every room looks like it came from a magazine," Boone said. "I'd imagined that when I called my roommate, we would talk about a color scheme."
When the mailing arrived, Boone was surprised to learn that she would live with Babui Salsabil, an international student from Bangladesh.
"I was excited, but I didn't know what to expect," Boone said. "I researched Bangladesh, but I didn't really know anything about it, especially the Muslim religion. My first question was definitely not about comforters."
According to the Housing Office, international students like Salsabil, who make up 6 percent of Richmond's student body, are almost always paired with American students during their first year to help them make a smooth transition to life in the United States. This is a common practice at other schools, whose international enrollment is similar to Richmond's. The College of William and Mary's website indicated that 340 of its undergraduate students, or about 6 percent, are international. At the University of Virginia, about 5 percent of students are international.
Though a January 2007 General Accounting Office forum report indicated that international enrollment was slipping at colleges and universities throughout the United States, Office of Admissions records show that international enrollment has been consistent, a statistic that may help attract international students.
"I chose Richmond because of its thriving international community, and because I felt comfortable here," first-year Bulgarian student Virzhiniya Lekova said.
In addition to assigning them American roommates, the university sponsors several other programs designed to help international students feel at home in Richmond.
One such program is international orientation, which takes place in the days before most firstyear students arrive on campus and includes programs about adjusting to American culture and a trip to King's Dominion amusement park.
"Richmond really tried to make school like home," Lekova said of the program. "At international orientation we were all new and kind of scared, but we got to do a lot of new things and make a lot of new friends. I was already kind of familiar with the culture but had problems adjusting, and international orientation was very helpful."
Salsabil agreed. "International orientation was great; it really helped me adjust to college," she said.
Veronica Seguin, an American citizen who attended an international high school in Beijing, did not attend international orientation, but said that Richmond still made efforts to make her feel comfortable.
"Going to an international high school helped prepare me for the transition to college and Richmond make that transition even easier by checking in with me and offering international events," she said.
Lekova and Salsabil said that other programs, including the International Club and dinners for international students had improved their experience as well.
But, Lekova said, "The thing I love most is my host family."
Lekova said her host mother, Charley King, who works in Student Accounts, does all the things her family would do if they were in Richmond, including driving her to and from the airport, taking her to explore the city, and storing her belongings for the summer.
Salsabil, who returned to Bangladesh before the end of the semester to tend to her sick mother, said her host family was "incredible."
Though international students were pleased with the University's efforts to acclimate them, Boone said that her struggle to adjust to life with an international student was largely ignored by the university.
"The administration goes to great lengths to recognize the struggles the international roommate will have, but the American roommate has to make just as much of an adjustment, and that experience is not being validated," she said.
Boone said that, though her overall experience living with Salsabil had been positive, she feels that American students assigned to international roommates would benefit from "any gesture, even just an e-mail or pamphlet, preparing them for life with an international."
Under the current system, "the [international] roommate gets more attention and you feel disadvantaged," she said.
Another first-year student, who asked to remain unnamed because of the nature of his comments about his roommate, said that living with an international student was a "nightmare."
"I wish I had received some warning about how different it was going to be," he said. "All my friends were adjusting to different music or different sleep schedules, and I was trying to figure out a new culture. It wasn't fair."
An international student, who also asked to remain unnamed, said that she and her roommate also did not get along, and that her roommate moved out after first semester.
"Some of the problem was culture, but it was mostly her personality," she said. "She was really difficult, and just didn't appreciate my feelings, cultural and otherwise. We just didn't click."
Though these students described problems with their roommates, both Boone and Salsabil said their living experience has been positive. Boone said she had enjoyed learning about her roommate's culture, including Indian music. She also enjoyed watching an international cricket tournament game in which Bangladesh defeated rival India.
"Babui was really excited, so it was easy for me to get excited too," she said. "We hung up Bangladesh's flag, and we were screaming and cheering."
She said that Salsabil was anxious to learn about American culture as well. "If you care about what I care about, I'm likely to be as supportive of you as possible," Boone said of her relationship with Salsabil.
Salsabil said, "I've really, really enjoyed living with Elizabeth, and I've learned a lot from her."
Even before Salsabil returned to Bangladesh, she and Boone did not plan to live together next year because Salsabil was going to work as a resident assistant.
"But," Boone said, "I would definitely keep Babui in mind as a possible roommate for junior year." Salsabil plans to return to Richmond for the spring 2008 semester.
Lekova also said she had enjoyed living with an American student.
"It's beneficial because you can ask cultural questions," she said although she and her roommate get along well they will not room together next year. She wants to live in the Global House with other international students. "I want a more international environment" she said.
Aside from her roommate and boyfriend, both of whom are American, Lekova said that most of her friends were international.
"Americans are always very nice and genuinely friendly, but most of my friends on campus are Bulgarian," she said. "It's just more comfortable for me to be with them because we have more in common."
Nevertheless, Seguin said that although she arrived at Richmond expecting to be friends with a lot of international students, most of her friends are American.
"Surprisingly, not many of my friends are international," she said. "I thought they would be because I thought American teens would be totally different from me and not understand me, but only a few of my friends are from other countries, and I identify really well with the American kids."
Seguin said she was surprised that even though she had lived oversees for most of her life, she had not attended any International Club events, mostly because many of her American friends had not shown any interest in attending them.
Lekova said she felt that there was a gap between American and international students because Americans did not attend international events.
"American students would really benefit from getting more involved in the international community," she said. "Americans that do come to the international socials seem to be very, very fond of them."
Andy Feltzin, a sophomore from Philadelphia has many international friends. In fact, both his girlfriend, Lekova, and his roommate, who is Ethiopian, are international. He said he chose to associate with international students because, "they are just on my wavelength."
Feltzin said that he came from a high school that consisted of a mostly white student body, so when he arrived at Richmond he wanted to learn more about other cultures.
"I really hadn't had much chance to branch out, and international students gave me that opportunity," he said. "I was really interested to find out other people's stories from their homes, and learn about other places."
He said other American students would benefit from becoming part of the international community, but that their involvement should be their choice, not something the university forces upon them.
"I think it should be completely natural, but I think it's an incredible opportunity that many students choose not to take" he said. "I've learned so much about the world from my international friends."
First-year student Jordan Trippeer, who said she had attended a lot of international events, from social dances to club meetings, echoed Feltzin's sentiment.
"They're really awesome people, and the whole school could learn a lot from them," she said. "I'd encourage American students to try and make international friends."
Lekova said that while she wished there were more interaction between Americans and international students, she was not surprised by the division.
"I think it's just a matter of comfort," she said. "The Bulgarians here are like my family, and I think American kids probably find that kind of relationship with other American kids. But, I wish there was a way we could all come together. We're different culturally, but we're also really similar."
Boone agreed that international and American students could learn a lot from each other.
"The most important thing I learned from living with Babui wasn't about cricket or being
Muslim, it was about learning to live and get along with someone different, and that they might not be so different after all," she said. "I didn't get a matching comforter set, but I did get an absolutely awesome experience."