Albany N.Y.— “I was screaming for help,” said an international student, who would like to be named Alexandria. “I felt so alone, that I feel like no one could help me.”
Alexandria was an undergraduate, double majoring in Psychology and Linguistics, while also double minoring in Korean Studies and Neuroscience. She was going through depression ever since she came to the university in fall 2018.
“I don’t tell people about it, until after a few months ago when I hit rock bottom and finally opened up to a few people about my problems,” said Alexandria. “I missed home, I was still trying to get used to this new place, but I kept it all to myself.”
Alexandria and many others are among the many people who go through a very common phenomenon called “homesickness.” Domestic students are able to go back to their homes more often, while some don’t always have that kind of luxury. Homesickness can be related to another common phenomenon that many international students face which is called “culture shock.” Homesickness and culture shock also tends to lead to more mental-health related issues like depression and anxiety.
According to the Director of Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) Dr. Dolores Cimini, many graduate students go for sessions more than the undergraduates from the international student pool. There is no clear data on the number of international students who go for counseling sessions, but Dr. Cimini has this to say about the numbers: “If there were 3,000 graduate students, then we would be seeing more than what’s represented in the [international student] population.”
Now, this is where the International Student & Scholar Services (ISSS) comes in.
ISSS focuses on not just handling international students at the university, but are also there for them especially at their lowest. Out of everyone in the university, they're the ones who would understand them the most.
According to Director of ISSS Michael Elliot, there are exactly 2, 191 international students in the university’s undergraduate and graduate programs from fall 2018. He also mentioned that the number of international students has slowly been increasing these past few years.
With that being said, what does ISSS do to help these students cope?
According to an email from CAPS, two psychologists work closely with ISSS which are Dr. Vivian Wilson-Hwang and Dr. Angie Diaz-Myers. “We usually have meetings [with CAPS] just so we can learn on what else we can do to help our students,” said Mr. Elliott. “They’ll come to our meeting and we’ll talk about international students issues in general and then we’ll talk about specific cases that might be going on. When we see students, we could share certain things that they could look out for just to support our international student population.”
ISSS also has collaborations with other programs CAPS provides for students, like Let’s Talk, a program where students can just come in and talk about their issues without booking a session. He also talks about how Middle Earth can be a great resource for the international student population. However, there is still the challenge that Alexandria and many other international students don’t speak their minds directly about their problems or issues to just anyone, so as a result; they don’t seek help.
Mr. Elliott explained how “help-seeking behaviors” are much different for international students than domestic students. Some of these students walk-in to ISSS and ask questions either about working opportunities, traveling and many more, but he feels that they also have some questions that they don’t want to disclose. “They might have simple questions but they may be coming in for other reasons, they just don’t tell you exactly,” said Mr. Elliott. He explains that they can ask questions and the students could tell them indirectly, so ISSS could try to help them by giving them resources and helping them connect them to important people on campus that could assist them like CAPS or Middle Earth.
However, it is said that not everyone on campus is equipped for international student’s “indirect behavior.” “We’re trained on it, but not all staff at the university are trained on it,” said Mr. Elliott. Just this year, ISSS has been training a number of departments in the university on what they can do to help international students. “If they go to academic advising or the registrar, and they have an issue, the registrar might say, ‘Well, you can’t take that class,’ or, ‘You missed the deadline for signing up for classes.’ They may not get to the real issue of either funding or the family pressures or whatever the student’s feeling that they will not say directly.”
ISSS has also recently collaborated with the Sociology Department to do focus groups on the top three dominant countries from the international student pool, which are China, South Korea, and India, to see what kind of demands and needs are expected to be met. They were also able to train their own staff on some of these cultures. One faculty member that is experienced from said culture will present it, then there will be a panel of graduate students from the country to better understand their needs.
ISSS also provides services for students who’ll arrive in the United States. “We provide transport from the airport, and even from their hotels,” said Mr. Elliott. He emphasized that ISSS tries their best to provide them with a smooth transition.
However, Mr. Elliott explained that being in a different country will always be a challenge for anyone: “Anytime you go abroad, you’re gonna be in pretty uncomfortable situations. The key is to learn to overcome them in order to get the things you need to be successful, and to have positive well-being.”
Alexandria was asked if she’s coping well. She answered: “It is what it is. Eventually, I’ll get there.”
If you or someone else is having mental health problems, call CAPS for an appointment at (518) 442-5800, or call the Middle Earth Hotline at (518) 442-5777, anytime, or text the Crisis Text Line by texting CONNECT to 741741 from anywhere in the USA, anytime, about any type of crisis.
This piece is written for AJRL201Z Reporting and News Writing II class of Fall 2019.
Bình luận