Friday, March 29, 2024

Going it Alone

MSU plays home to 18 students who are lone representatives of homeland

April 25, 2012
Photo by Infographic by Liam Zanyk McLean | The State News

When Elvin Hajili approaches a cafeteria worker to order something to eat, he’s never sure if they’ll understand his thick central Asian accent.

The hospitality business junior from Baku, Azerbaijan, debates whether to just say what he wants or try to mime it with gestures. Sometimes the workers are patient; other times they’re not.

But when he orders one of his favorite foods, he always hits the same bump.

“They never understand me when I say chicken,” he said. “I don’t understand it — only chicken.”

Despite his issues in the cafeteria, as the only student at MSU from Azerbaijan, one thing Hajili never hesitates to express his pride for his country.

“I feel so special,” he said. “I bring a flag from my country wherever I go.”

As of fall 2011, there are 5,898 international students from about 125 countries across the world. But here at MSU there are less than 20 students, such as Hajili, who are the sole representatives of countries they love.

American arrival
Ravi Ammigan, assistant director of the Office for International Students and Scholars, or OISS, said MSU has a strong international student presence on campus — ranked in the top 10 institutions with the highest international student enrollment, according to the Institute of International Education’s annual Open Doors Report.

Leaving her mother, six brothers and sisters and a country she loved behind, graduate student Shahlo Safarzoda, the only student at MSU from Tajikistan, boarded a plane to the U.S. in pursuit of a doctorate in entomology.

The avid rock climber said the mountains of Tajikistan were her favorite part about home, something she realized she would have to give up in the U.S.

“When I came to Michigan, it was flat,” she said. “I just asked, ‘Where is the mountain?’ and people were laughing, (saying) there are no mountains in Michigan.”

Although the OISS can’t help the Mitten’s level land, Ammigan said the office works with many international students from the moment they get to Lansing airports to the time they walk across the graduation stage.

Programs range from helping students check into residence halls to assisting them with maintaining a U.S. visa.

As a former international student in the U.S. from Port Louis, Mauritius himself, Ammigan said students who are the only representatives of their countries at MSU can feel lost, but the OISS does its best to fill the void.

“I can imagine if you’re somebody who would want to be close to others from your home country, it might be a challenge … but I think if you’re the only student from that country there are plenty of resources and units that you can take advantage of,” he said.

Adapting to campus
When Hajili came to the U.S. from Azerbaijan, he knew he had a lot of things to get used to.

“I traveled to a couple countries around the world, but the U.S. is totally different than any country,” he said.

Ammigan said it is not uncommon for international students to have a hard time adjusting to their new country.

“There is the whole experience of culture shock,” he said.

As he tried to adjust to life in the U.S., Hajili said he often was too shy to ask people to repeat what they had said when he didn’t understand.

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“I felt like it was my fault, and I shouldn’t ask them twice because it’s not (good),” he said.

As someone who experienced the adjustment himself years ago, Ammigan said the language barrier international students experience always proves to be difficult.

“Even though you have studied English in school, and you’re grammatically proficient at it, foreign language can be quite draining to constantly be thinking and reapplying yourself into a different language,” he said.

After MSU Dubai’s undergraduate programs were shut down in 2010, media and information junior Kuba Alimbekov, the only undergraduate student at MSU from Kyrgyzstan, transferred to MSU with a goal to get an American education.

Without anyone to speak his native language of Kyrgyz with, Alimbekov said he decided to work on his English by working in the cafeteria, spending time learning all the various names for food.

“When you’re learning a language, you don’t learn words like lettuce or pickles,” he said.

Growing up with foods like lipioshka, a traditional bread in Tajikistan, Safarzoda said she was eager to see what the U.S. had to offer.

“When I first came here, I said, ‘What is a traditional American food?’” Safarzoda said. “My friend she said, ‘Oh, we don’t have traditional food. We have McDonald’s.”

But when one of her American friends cooked a pot of chili, Safarzoda said she fell in love with both the food and the way she felt students at MSU included her, guided her and helped her adjust to life in the U.S.

Despite how much his family wanted him to have the best education, Hajili said his mother still gives him a hard time about leaving his home. When he begins to feel homesick, he tries his best to distract himself with naps, showers or visiting friends.

“I don’t let myself feel that,” he said. “I try to prevent it.”

But about three times a week, Hajili said he’ll still call to make sure the distance doesn’t break his connection to his loved ones.

International aspirations
With a new degree under their belts, Ammigan said international students have many options for life after college, and OISS still is working to learn more about their postgraduation trends.

“It could be (anywhere) from continuing to stay in the U.S., finding employment and getting immigration sponsorship from companies to going back home,” he said.

After he graduates, Hajili isn’t sure what the future has in store for him, whether it be a career in the U.S. or back home in Azerbaijan. Before the time comes to decide, he said he’ll settle with taking the 28-hour trip home to visit his family during winter and summer break.

Looking back on his year at MSU, Hajili said if he could give any advice to students, it would be to travel and expand their horizons beyond their native countries.

“People in the U.S. are so nice,” he said. “I really want them to know to have good intellect about things all over the world.”

With both a bright future in agriculture and a particular sweetheart waiting for her in Tajikistan, Safarzoda said she plans to head home to make her mark on the country that she currently is the sole representative of on campus.

“I will go there, and I will have what I learned from MSU,” she said. “Maybe I will do something new for my country.”

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