International students participate in a Washington photo scavenger hunt as part of orientation activities.
Under the aroma of Coco Chanel perfume, a Converse All Star backpack lies on a purple carpet, a pair of red Beats headphones peeking out. The desk is blanketed by a marketing textbook open to page 129, and a joke is scrawled onto the dry-erase board of the mini fridge.
It looks like a typical American dorm room, the kind in magazines, except the joke on the mini fridge is in Chinese characters. The room’s resident, Fanying Jiang, is a sophomore international student from Chengdu, China.
This semester, 2,305 Chinese international students make up 47 percent of the university’s international student population, said Susan Ellis Dougherty, international student and scholar services director in the international affairs office.
Over the past few years, Dougherty has seen an increase in the number of Chinese students coming to the United States for education. She attributes this rise to improved financial conditions in China and the reputation of higher education in the U.S.
But Jiang’s love for America did not originate from a desire for higher education — it began with the NBA. At home in China, she would crawl out of bed at 6 or 7 a.m. to watch every game. Since coming to the U.S., Jiang requested that people call her Savannah — not because it’s an American name, but because her favorite basketball player is LeBron James, and his wife is named Savannah.
In China, Jiang attended boarding school for six years. Her classes began at 8 a.m. and ended at 10:10 p.m., with a two-hour break in the afternoon. Jiang used that opportunity to nap, while other students felt pressure to study even more.
“Chinese students, they study,” Jiang said. “Their grades are so important that if you do anything like basketball, sports or social activities, your parents will think you spend a lot of times on meaningless things.”
The NBA ignited Jiang’s desire to do more than just school. She wanted to have cultural experiences and participate in extracurricular activities. So she packed her belongings, left her family and traveled halfway across the world to attend this university.
Linda Clement, student affairs vice president, oversaw the International Undergraduate Student Task Force, launched two years ago. She wanted to find out about the international student experience on the campus and how it could be improved.
“It’s a really important thing for our students to have exposure to people from other countries and other cultures,” Clement said. “The idea that you can attract international undergraduate students that are in our classrooms and joining our organizations and living in our residence halls enriches everyone’s experiences.”
However, once Jiang arrived at this university, the difficulty of mastering English heightened the academic rigor, and she spent all her extra time studying.
“I did not understand every single class. I would think, ‘How would I deal with all the examinations and the papers?’” Jiang said. “I still feel like it’s so tough.”
The first few weeks of the first semester, doors are usually left open, and people wander throughout their halls, popping their heads into their neighbors’ rooms and making new friends. Jiang said she watched all of this happen but was too nervous to walk over and say hello.
“American people, they talk so fast. I heard other students talk in the hallway, and I think, ‘That’s crazy, how can you speak English that speed?’” Jiang said. “I think if I join, I will be strange. I don’t want others to know that my English is not cool.”
The thought of walking into a room full of Americans still makes her anxious, even after studying here for almost a year and a half. This communication barrier broke her confidence and discouraged her from joining the extracurricular activities she’d yearned for in China.
Clement sees this as a trend with international students and hopes the university can make clubs more accessible for these students.
“The integrating of the students into our existing student organizations and groups is still a challenge for us,” Clement said. “If you can create a sensitivity on the part of our students, maybe they will reach out more if there is an international student on their floor.”
The university started a peer program in which international students are paired with American students to help with the adjustment, said Meredith Carpenter, human resources coordinator for the Department of Resident Life.
“The idea of mentoring on campus is really important, whether for an international student or just an American student,” Carpenter said. “It’s important for students to feel like they have a personal connection to the university.”
Although the language adjustment has been difficult, Jiang appreciates the help she has received from students and professors. Group projects have opened the doors of communication for Jiang because she is forced to converse and work with Americans.
Jiang said it is Asian tradition to be quiet and respectful, and as a Chinese international student, she does not know American traditions and will choose to remain silent rather than be talkative. This is why many Chinese students are only friends with other Chinese students, she said.
“It’s tradition. They grew up, parents told them you need to keep quiet and follow the rules,” Jiang said. “They don’t know the rules here.”
Carpenter also assisted the International Undergraduate Student Task Force and noted the task force has hosted an international student ice cream social, put on a tailgate before the men’s soccer game against Duke and worked to improve orientation programs.
Jiang said she still has some adjusting to do and activities she wants to join, but with the kindness of the university and students, she has found her place at College Park. Terrapins athletics also excite Jiang, and now she loves football almost as much as she loves LeBron James.
“I really miss [my family], but I know that they have a happy life in my hometown. I feel like now UMD is kind of my second home,” she said. “I have to study, but I plan to join some organizations. I want to be a volunteer. I plan to do that.”
