Coming to college can be a difficult transition regardless if a school is 15 minutes or 15 hours away. It’s a big step to leave the comfort of your hometown with support from friends and family behind to start a new journey. International students travel across seas and settle in a foreign country. Typically, they don’t know a single person when they get to where they’re going. About 4% of UConn students are from another country and have a unique perspective on coming to Storrs. Here’s what three freshman foregin exchange students have to say about life at UConn compared to life at home in China.
Q: What made you want to travel to America for college?
Yanyu: I want to achieve great things, become successful, broaden my horizons, gain more power, and help people.
Jiayi: It seems that the top one hundred schools are always in America. And if I chose to study abroad, I’d have more opportunities to get a better education.
Pingxu: I really wanted to get a different experience and study nutritional science. The major in China is not very popular and we don’t have a lot of resources. Studying abroad is very cool.
Q: What is your favorite place so far in the States?
Yanyu: It is New York because it is the global financial center of the world. New York is full of opportunities and challenges. Also, it is beautiful at night.
Jiayi: I’ve only been in Storrs so far.
Pingxu: Boston because there’s a lot of history. It’s different from other cities- very clean, pretty, very good environment.
Q: What made you want to attend UConn?
Yanyu: I wanted to find a different style of living and meet new people. I want to have a better understanding of my future. It’s my duty.
Jiayi: When I was searching schools on the internet back in China, I saw that they have a great program for biology.
Pingxu: They have a really good nutritional science program, and it’s a safe campus. It’s a very united and friendly campus. I came and visited and loved it.
Q: Favorite spot so far on campus?
Yanyu: It’s the Student Union since you can meet a variety of different people.
Jiayi: Mirror Lake is my favorite place. Especially at the nighttime.
Pingxu: Horsebarn Hill is my favorite spot- especially with the sunset. It’s peaceful and quiet!
Q: How has the transition been between the two countries?
Yanyu: Some of the differences include the ways of thinking, different food (taste), and different activities. For example, in China, we play ping-pong and here we play tennis.
Jiayi: It been going pretty well so far. I’m lucky that I’m in the Leadership Learning Community, and if I wasn’t in this LC I couldn’t have this many friends. Since I have all of these new friends, I’ve been transitioning very well.
Pingxu: In China, people are more willing to do things independently but here more people are more likely to be social and join clubs.
Q: How does the food compare?
Yanyu: American food is different but worth trying. I thought that American food could only be hot dogs and hamburgers but it’s so different but really awesome.
Jiayi: If I can say the truth, it’s not that good. The Chinese food here is definitely not Chinese food.
Pingxu: Honestly I think when you eat out at a restaurant it’s cool. It’s very diverse- lots of options; French, Italian, etc., instead of China where it’s just Chinese food. You can get fat really quickly here- there’s more calories! Junk food is popular here too, like fries and hamburgers.
Q: How was your first day on campus?
Yanyu: I was nervous but also excited. I was nervous about the new circumstances but excited to meet new people.
Jiayi: Honestly, it was a little overwhelming. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to understand what a professor was talking about but I felt better after my first lecture. I’m still a little exhausted, since I have five classes.
Pingxu: I was kind of nervous but people were really nice to help me out. The whole campus is so large so I got lost a couple of times but people helped me out which was good.
Cover Images Provided by Alexis Angelini