When Zuleikha Zadran came to the U.S. at the age of 13, it was the war in Afghanistan that pushed her family to leave. But now, as an American citizen and recent MSU graduate, she feels love for both countries.
Soon she will learn if she will be a nongovernmental organization project coordinator in Afghanistan — but for now, she will be celebrating American independence with other U.S. citizens just like her.
For many MSU students, the Fourth of July is a holiday they have celebrated for years, but for international students, such as Zadran, the experience is still fairly new.
“It’s very exciting,” Zadran said. “America is about diversity … it just makes me proud that I can share my culture with other vibrant cultures here in the U.S.”
American holidays, such as the Fourth of July, are just one of many aspects of being in a new country that international students have to deal with, Peter Briggs, director of the Office for International Students and Scholars, or OISS, said.
“Yes, they’re outsiders to (the holiday), but it’s kind of exciting to see a culture on its national day,” Briggs said. “We’re all Americans on this day.”
According to statistics from the OISS, MSU had 5,898 international students in fall 2011, amounting to about 12.3 percent of the university population.
Of the international students that fall, 4,661 students came from Asia, the highest total at MSU.
At first, Nafi Sene, an international relations sophomore and African Student Union president, said the celebrations were a reminder of the holidays she would celebrate back home, but she chose to focus on the positive and embrace the day. She plans on spending the holiday enjoying fireworks and friends.
“At first, I felt a little left out because I didn’t know much about these holidays, and I didn’t get as excited to celebrate them as much as my friends did,” Sene said in an email. “As time passed, I started to get accustomed to them and was very open-minded toward celebrating a different culture.”
For Sijia He, a first-year graduate student from Bejing, China, it’s difficult to be in the United States for an American holiday, but she can’t imagine missing the chance to celebrate.
“It’s enjoyable for me to see other people celebrating,” He said. “I love different cultural celebrations.”
He has been in the U.S. for two weeks and said she is excited to see other American holidays, especially Christmas next winter.
Zadran said many fellow international students enjoy seeing fireworks and celebrations, and some even travel to New York or Washington, D.C., for bigger celebrations. Zadran said she will be watching fireworks over the Hudson River in New York, where she is currently an intern.
“It definitely has more importance to American students, due to patriotism and such,” Sene said.
“(But) to me, every independence day is important and deserves to be celebrated well.”
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