Foreigners experience U.S. culture and education

From Tanzania to Thailand, foreign students come to the U.S. to experience American culture and an American education.

Sophomore Nathita Limprasittiporn came from Thailand to gain exposure to different cultures.

“When you first come here you don’t know anyone and you kind of adjust yourself to the new culture and society,” Limprasittiporn said.
Limprasittiporn enjoys in participating in activities that are not found in Thailand.

“What I like about Marshall is yearbook because we also don’t have it in Thailand,” Limprasittiporn said. “I like lacrosse. It is my first time playing lacrosse and they don’t have it in Thailand.”

A big difference Limprasittiporn experienced was the ability to choose elective classes.

“In the United States you get to choose your classes but when in Thailand you do not get to choose your classes,” Limprasittiporn said. “It is scheduled for you each day.”

Junior Millan Mbise is from Tanzania.

“The culture is totally different,” Mbise said. “You need to get used to the culture, but from then on it gets easier.”

The most important aspect of being a foreign exchange student to Mbise is the interactions with American students.

“They kind of want to interact with you and try to learn from you,” Mbise said.

Because of his strong passion for soccer, Mbise plays for the varsity soccer team.

“Soccer there is most common,” Mbise said. “It is a privilege to be on a team here and play with the talent that is there.”

He said the amount of clubs and sports at Marshall is also different from those offered in Tanzania.

“People are into so many different sports that I have never heard of before like lacrosse,” Mbise said.

Junior Lluis de la Riva is a foreign exchange student from Spain and a player for varsity soccer.

De la Riva has participated in many athletic programs offered by Marshall throughout this school year.

“I have been to the green days for basketball, and then I made the swim team and now I am doing soccer,” de la Riva said. “In Spain, it doesn’t work with the school sports. We don’t have high school sports.”

Along with foreign exchange students, the Marshall community is also made up of international students who moved here from other countries.

Freshman Ellen Rank moved from Japan. “Living overseas was a lot different from here because people had a much different attitude about things such as race, gender and other issues,” she said.

Senior Gowri Shivasabesan is from Australia and has been a student at Marshall for the past three years
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Shivasabesan believes that the range of people in community is an important aspect of Marshall.

She added that the international aspect is “not just in terms of backgrounds like where they are from but also like what type of people there is.”

Before she moved, Shivasabesan feared that American high schools were similar to Mean Girls, a movie about the drama of high school cliques. Upon reflecting on her experience, Shivasabesan said that she felt the wide range of people allows for much interaction between students.

“I feel like almost anyone can find someone in Marshall that they can connect with on some level,” Shivasabesan said.

Shivasabesan is currently a member of MUN and the Octagon club. She said that MUN tied in to how international Marshall really is.

Sophomore Dalila Ferrera is a foreign student from Italy who believes that Italian high school curriculum is much more difficult than the IB program. Ferrera added that there are no high school sports in Italy.

“I think that it is more fun,” Ferrera said. “You are with all different people from school that you never talked to.”

Through high school sports and clubs, the new culture and community, international students get to experience a high school education in America.

“In short, I just love Marshall. I love America,” Mbise said. “I would definitely want to continue my studies here.”