Soooo, you want to school in the United States. You picture yourself in famous cities like New York, Dallas, etc living your best life and getting that degree. You went through the EXTREMELY rigorous process of getting that F1 Student visa. You start packing anything and everything into that suitcase, then you realize the airlines require a sacrifice of your first child to let your heavy bags on that flight. Fast forward to when you arrive on US soil, You see yourself at the finish line, taking pictures with your oh so very proud parents, and posting it on LinkedIn to get bragging rights. Thennnn you start actually living here and realize, snap! I ain't ready. I heard you, so I present to you my most cherished list of what I wish someone told me before I came here
Just ask someone, fam: I honestly would love to cram every wise decision you should make into this list, but you know that won't work. So, if there's one thing you can take away from this post it's this point, don't be afraid to ask literally anyone! 9 out of 10 times you'll meet someone on your school's campus who is happy to help you out or point you in the right direction. Comment which countries you are from below and rep your country, but I'm from Nigeria, and it's almost like this unspoken rule that loomed over us in secondary school, to always have an answer to every single question and if you don't know, pretend. Schooling here is different, no one expects you to know everything, they WILL expect you to ask if you are ever unsure of anything. So don't just nod your head, and silently plan to google everything when you get home.
Be involved on campus: So I immensely struggled with this one! If there's one thing you carry with you from home as an international student, it's the drive to succeed and make your family proud. That turns into making us hyper hyper high achievers who are super focused on that GPA staying up and nothing else. Zilch social life skills. Don't get me wrong, it's good to keep that kind of focus, but you need a healthy balance, fam. The right kind of social life balance could introduce you to those friends that you'll need on the journey ahead, to that mentor or professor that will help you open doors for your career and that sense of mental break you need from your books. It's not only your grades that get you that 6-figure job, it sometimes comes down to the people you know.
Switch up your study habits till you find a fit: I used to be so dead set on how I had always studied back home for my classes. Biko, *please in Igbo* I rebuke that spirit in you. The school system here is quite unique, different classes can have different techniques that work well for it, and depending on what kind of learner you are that varies. Re-reading and re-writing your notes continuously doesn't always work. Flashcards are most people's go-to, but my advice is to figure out what works best for you.
Resist the urge to fake the American accent: Yes yes, I know it's kind of difficult. Most F1 students find it extremely uncomfortable to be repeatedly asked to repeat themselves, to speak slowly, or to become the centre of attention because of our different accents. So, we consciously or subconsciously start to speak with the American accent just to make life easier on ourselves. However, I say this from my own experience, I wish I hadn't gotten so shy of using my Nigerian born accent. I believe the need to always try to use the American accent prevented me from mingling with US-born colleagues and also my professors. The fear of what, 'What if I say this word differently from them? or what if my attempt at their accent even makes things more complicated and I get stares?' So, my advice is to stick to what will make you comfortable in the long run. If you really don't mind accents go ahead, if you would rather stick with your original accent, do you. fam. Although, be fair warned that you might have to learn the American pronunciation and spelling of some words.
Check that email, fam: The first social media platform you'll need to check every morning, is not The Gram, not TikTok. Your school's email inbox should be checked every morning and multiple times during the day. In fact, go ahead and get the app on your phone, because you WILL need it. So much important information gets sent via emails daily. scholarships, job positions, changes to your course syllabus, even information from your school's international office.
Plagiarism is a thing: Most colleges here will require you to take English language courses, which will entail A LOT of writing essays. One of the big deals about essays is plagiarism (basically, writing someone else's work in your essay without explicitly saying you did so). So you can't just copy some information off an article you found on Google, that makes you sound super smart, and paste that into your essay without citing it. So always always use plagiarism checkers, like grammarly.com or any other free one you find on Google. Also, don't forget to cite your references in your paper, you can use easybib.com to generate proper citations.
Speak up in class: I have a post about this (https://helloyoungerme.wixsite.com/helloyoungerme/post/lesson-learned-1-raise-up-your-hand) Okay, so I was always used to speaking only and if being spoken to in class, and for the most part if I did well in school I was recognized by my teachers back home. That does not necessarily work here, if you want to be noticed you WILL have to speak up in class, ask questions, go to your professor's office hours, etc. There are multiple reasons you should take this seriously, the first being, whether you continue to graduate school, medical school or look for that job or internship, chances are that you will need Letters of Recommendation or References, which will be from your professors or mentors. Another reason is that it helps you get the nerves out now that you're in school, because if you do decide to work here, you will still need to learn how to speak out and get noticed in a respectful way.
Connect with your fellow immigrants: You know that saying, 'Only those who wear the shoe know where it hurts.' The same applies to your life here, you need a support community that really gets you. They understand when you get homesick, when you just need to find that special grocery store that sells your local ingredients and food brands from home, when you struggle with adapting, the culture shock, etc. Chances are they will know about more opportunities specifically for international students.
Connect with your school's international office/know your OPT or CPT status: You should know the way to your international office even in your dreams, you should be able to explain the directions even to a Chimpanzee. The staff there is a huge resource especially in terms of every thing concerning your OPT or CPT status (If you want to know more about this, please comment below). Always always look out for their emails and make sure you are doing every thing to stay in the right status, biko.
Look for a campus job, asap: So, this one is optional. It's for us who like having extra cash in the bank. Due to our legal status as F1 students, we are only allowed to work for on-campus employers. Jobs are usually posted in different areas depending on your school, so make sure to ask about where you can find on-campus job postings. Getting a job requires you to have good time-management skills, because your course workload can be daunting depending on the semester. My school uses joinhandshake.com
Alright fam, that's all I have for now. Don't be a stranger, comment below or send me a message using the contact form (https://helloyoungerme.wixsite.com/helloyoungerme/contact) in the Contact section to ask questions or suggest what articles you would like to see. My YouTube channel is coming soon too! See y'all over there.
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