ISL News and Events

Events hosted by International Student Life:

Recent Events:

June 4th 2021: Game and Pizza night at the ICC

June 4th International Student Life hosted a game and pizza night for all TTU international students. Games were provided along with a healthy serving of pizza and cookies! This was our first "real" in-person event since the end of COVID-19 event guidelines. It was really great to see so many students come out and spend time with each other! With it being summer, we weren't sure what the turnout would be like, but we had about fifty students total that night! It just goes to show that events don't always need to be super complex to be enjoyable to students! 

June 18th 2021: The Sound of Music

On June 18th we took students to see Moonlight Musicals production of "The Sound of Music". What could be more enjoyable than relaxing on a warm summer evening, under the Texas stars while watching an all time classic production. Many of our students have never seen the movie before and were excited to see what all the excitement was about!

Rides were offered to students who did not have access to transportation, while others opted to meet us at the theater if they had thier own cars. Students brought picnics and blankets to set out...... 

Upcoming Events! 

Programs in the Works:

International Student Support Group

It's no surprised that in the past year mental health has been an extra hot topic, especially for students, but what about international students?

International Students face a variety of issues including but not limited to the following, home sickness, financial strain from living and studying abroad, culture shock, family death, inability to travel home during emergencies, loneliness, discrimination, and language barriers. Many students also could feel additional stress if their home country and the US are not on good terms.

Currently there is not a place on campus for international students to discuss with one another the stressors they may be facing in a new country. Mental health is still a taboo topic for some cultures, and therefore may prevent students from reaching out when they most need to. By having a place for students to come together with those also sharing their experience, we can provide a place of open discussion which could generate hope and a feeling of “it's not just me” to our students. It is important that we help our students to recognize the importance of discussing mental health and becoming more self-aware as a result.

Dr. Justin Chen of Massachusetts General Hospital has done studies on international student mental health and wellbeing. A study he conducted in 2017 consisted of a total sample size of 44,851 degree-seeking undergraduate students, both domestic and international. His studies found that international students were less likely to report anxiety and had a high probability of suicidal thoughts, than their domestic peers. He mentions in his conclusion that University campuses should consider culturally sensitive and targeted psychoeducation, mental health services, and outreach programming. (Yeung TS, Hyun S, Zhang E, Wong F, Stevens C, Liu CH, Chen JA. Prevalence and correlates of mental health symptoms and disorders among US international college students. J Am Coll Health. 2021 Jan 31:1-7.)

Going forward, ISL has been in communications with the Student Counseling Center, to create a group therapy practice for international students. However with the stigma of mental health being a common issue in many countries, the plan is to market this group not so much as "therapy" but as a support group, a place to come, have coffee and chat about whats been on their mind.  The program is planned to begin in Fall 2021. More information to come. 

 

For questions please contact kathleen.cade-gerzon@ttu. or beth.mora@ttu.edu