Now there have been plenty of visit days for prospective University of Iowa students, but not all of them are accessible to students, particularly international ones, who cannot afford to fly to the United States to visit one out of many universities that they are applying to. In light of it approaching acceptance time to university, this blog post is going to highlight what happened during one of the visit days and what you missed out on.

On April 12th, the University of Iowa had another visit day and this one had a special side-event specifically for international students, one in which the International Student Ambassadors, myself included, participated in. This visit day included a student panel discussion, campus tours, residence hall tours, an exploring majors fair and, specifically for the international students, and a talk from International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS).

Due to having a full day of classes and a performance that evening, I was only able to take part in the morning event, the Student Panel Discussion. Five of the other International Student Ambassadors, including my friends Mishma and Ayushi, participated in the Student Panel Discussion. We answered questions asked by our supervising leader, Mr Adam Parker. These questions ranged from advice for students, our experiences in the residence halls, clubs and activities outside of our majors and our favorite memory since coming to the University of Iowa.

While this blog post isn’t an interview, I do recall certain responses given by my fellow ambassadors and I. Below I’m noting the most memorable and important information that we dished out:

1. Advice: Take advantage of all the opportunities that the university has to offer. We can take part in general education courses and organizations outside of our major. These are great opportunities to try new things; Mishma changed her major due to a new interest in cinematography that she developed after taking a gen ed cinema course in her first semester.
2. Residence halls: The residence halls are extremely successful. Three of us, who currently live in the residence halls – Mishma, Ayushi and I – are going to live in neighboring residence hall rooms for the academic year of 2019-2020. Another ambassador, Mia, has been a resident assistant from 2018-present and she is excited that she gets to live in different residence halls each year and get to know more people.
3. Clubs and activities: Again, try new things. Another ambassador, Aviral, joined the University of Iowa Breakers Club and this interested him in dance so much that he considered becoming a dance minor. He even had the opportunity to dance in Times Square in New York City through the business club that he is part of. This was an amazing opportunity that I as a dance major did not get! Clubs and activities are a great way to partake in interests that do not become our majors.
4. Favorite memory: Mine include the performances I’ve been in, the friends I’ve made, my classes, all of which I adore. Others have more specific memories, such as birthday celebrations, specific courses and club events. Mishma’s would undoubtedly include Taste of Asia, which she was working on as long as I was rehearsing for Crash Dance…basically since I came here back in August!

While the visit days are a great way to get to know the university, I know that not everyone is able to attend them, particularly the international students. In light of this, the International Student and Scholar Services is hosting a series of pre-arrival webinars to introduce important information to the international students. Last year, I was listening to them and asking questions. This year, I’m going to be one of the students giving advice to prospective students! Both Mishma and Mia will be joining me, along with some other students and Lee Seedorff, the Senior Associate Director of ISSS. So if you have any more questions, feel free to join in the webinar and hear us speak in person!

That is not the end of my international student ambassador duties. In August, both Mishma and I will be assisting in the international student orientation as small group leaders. It’s going to be a fabulous time being on the delivering end instead of the receiving one!

With that said, I can hardly believe that it’s been almost a whole year since my arrival at the University of Iowa. It’s been a fabulous time; I’ve had a ton of ups and a few downs, but mostly ups. And I wouldn’t trade this experience for any other university life. I’m really looking forward to starting my sophomore year in August. But first…summer!!!

Bye for now,

Emily