An uphill struggle: Chinese students' endeavor to fit in on U.S. Campus

Onasummerdayin2010,18-year-oldJaneYuquick-steppedthroughthecoolmorningwindinIowastate,centralU.S.,abackpackoverhershoulder.ShewasafreshmanoftheIowaStateUniversity.

"Well,Ifitintothenewenvironmentquickly.However,sometimeswhenan'Americanjoke'poppedupduringalectureandthewholeclassburstintolaughterexceptme,itwasalittlebitawkward."

"ButIwouldstilllaughwiththemeventhoughIdidnotquitegetit,"shejoked."However,itwasabitfrustratingthen--seeingmyselfaculturaloutsideronoccasionslikethiswhenstudentsinteractwithprofessors."

ToacquaintherselfwithU.S.popculture,JanewatchedregularlytheDailyShow,asatiricalnewsprogramthenhostedbycomedianJonStewart."Itwasoneofmyfavoritenewsprogram.Iloveitbecauseitdeliverssomethingveryseriousthroughhumor."

Fastforwardto2015,JaneisnowagraduateoftheColumbiaUniversity."IfyouspentalotoftimetolearnAmericanpopculture,youwillgraduallygetthesejokes.Butthesearestillmy'blindspots',"sheadmitted.

Jane'sendeavortonavigatethroughadifferentcultureandherfeelingofbeingan"outsider"issharedbymanyChinesestudentswhocametostudyatAmericanschoolsoverthepastfewyears.

Lateststatisticsshowedthatmorethan304,000studentsfromChinawerestudyinginU.S.collegesanduniversitiesinthe2014-15academicyear,accountingfor31.2percentofallinternationalstudents.

AgrowingmiddleclassinhomecountryandU.S.universities'pushforaglobaleducationcontributedtotheinfluxofinternationalstudents,particularlyfromChina,analystssaid.

However,whileAmericanschoolsgotogreatlengthstorecruitChinesestudents,theinfluxofinternationalstudentshasalsoleftthemunpreparedintermsofhelpingthemassimilatetolocalcommunities.

Arecentstudyfoundthatnearly40percentofinternationalstudentsreportedhavingnocloseAmericanfriends.AndstudentsfromChinaandelsewhereinEastAsiasaidtheireffortstofitinatschoolis,moreorless,astruggle.

"WhenChineseinternationalstudentscometomyoffice,oneoftheveryfirstquestionstheyhave--rarelyanacademicone--is'howdoImakeAmericanfriends?',"saidSebastianCherng,assistantprofessorofinternationaleducationwiththeNewYorkUniversity(NYU).

"Itisdifficult,"hesaid."Weareaverydiversesociety,butwearealsoaverysegregatedsociety."

Therearereasonsforconcern.Takeastrollonthecampusonanygivenday,onecaneasilysensethenuancedboundaries:moststudentsarehangingoutwithschoolmatesoftheirownethnicity.

ThoughmostAmericanstudentsbelieveChinesestudentsareapositiveadditiontotheclassroom,makingfriendswiththemisadifferentmatter.

TomostChinesestudents,foralltheireffortstomingle,therealwaysseemstobeaninvisibleline.

YaLin,analumnaoftheNewYork-basedFordhamUniversity,said:"MostChinesestudentswillactivelyparticipateinsocialnetworkingevents,suchashappyhouroralumnigathering,butitishardtomaintainanddeveloptherelationship."

Speakingalongsimilarlines,Linda,alsoaFordhamalumna,saiditiseasytomakeacquaintancewithlocalAmericanstudents,butveryhardtoforgeclosertieswiththem.

Thetendencytoseekforfriendswithsimilarbackgroundsisonereason,Cherngsaid.

"EveninplacelikeNYUwhichisincrediblydiverse,peoplewillsticktowhattheyknow.YourEnglishsoundsdifferentfrommineandifImakepopcultureinferences,youmaynotknow.WemaynotwatchthesameTVshows,wemaynotlikethesamefood.Sotomakefriendsandtocrossthoseborders,ittakesefforts."

Inhisview,theresponsibilitytocrossthoseboundariesliesinAmericanstudents."IthinkuniformlyChineseinternationalstudentsareverywillingtomakethateffort,IthinkalotofresponsibilityneedstobeplacedonAmericanstudents."

Meanwhile,ChergnsaidhebelieveduniversitiesshouldoffermoreprogramstobothAmericanandinternationalstudentsthatfacilitatemutualunderstandingandinteraction.

PeterKwong,professorofurbanaffairsandplanningatHunterCollege,alsoagreedthatuniversitiesoughttomaketheeffortstohelpforeignstudentsfitinU.S.universities.

"Butwhethertheyseethatasapriorityisadifferentstory.Thepressureisnotthere,"hesaid."Theydon'tseeresponsibilityintermsofbridgingculturalgap."

Still,changesarehappening.

Manyuniversitiesarespendingconsiderabletimeandeffortstoattractmoreinternationalstudents,aswellensuringtheyareacademicallysupported,particularlyintermsoflanguage,Chergnsaid.

JiaWei,anMBAstudentatNYU'sSternSchoolofBusiness,toldXinhua:"Sternhassomeverygoodprogramfortheorientation,itiscalledlaunch.Duringthetwo-weekactivities,thereisalotofinteractionbetweenusandotherstudentsthatwillhelpusadapttocampuslife."

"Meanwhile,wehavedifferentsocieties.IamonboardofAsianBusinessSociety,andeveryyearwehavea'culturaltrek'toAsia.AlotofAmericanswillsubscribeforthetrek.TheyareeagertolearnAsianculturethroughtheprogram."

AtNYUwhichboaststhehighestnumberofinternationalstudentsintheUnitedStates,ChergniscurrentlyworkingwithoneinternationalgraduatestudentwhoisdesigningandrunninganIntergroupDialoguecourseforNYUundergraduatesonthetopicofrace,immigration,andinternationalstudents.

"SincecomingtoNYU,I'veworkedwiththeCenterforMulticulturalEducationPrograms.PartoftheirmissionistorunworkshopsforbothNYUandnon-NYUgroupsthatmodelhowtohaveconversationsthatareimportantforbothU.S.domesticandinternationalstudents,"hesaid.

"Weneedtobebetter,andwecannotinvitesomanyinternationalstudentsandalsonotbetrained,nottohaveaconversationaboutwhatitlookslikewhensomanyclassmatearenotfromyourcontext,notfromyourcountry.Wecannotjustassumethatbecauseweare,thatalloftherelationshipscanhappen,"henoted.Enditem