The cold winters ‘all part of the experience’
ABU DHABI // International students from hot climates sometimes have trouble adjusting to the bitterly cold and dark winters of the United States, but not Saad Hamoodi.
“As cold as it gets, I still miss it,” said Mr Hamoodi, who graduated from Northeastern University in Boston in 2012.
Weather is one of a number of unique challenges that Emirati and Arab students face while studying in the US.
“Other challenges exist that extend far outside the classroom,” Dr Hazza Abu Rabia said in a study on Arab students abroad published online in the International Journal of Higher Education this month.
After interviewing 16 Arab students – including an Emirati – enrolled at two universities in north- east United States, Dr Rabia found the students experienced different levels of culture shock, language difficulties and isolation.
“The majority of Arab international students were away from their families for the first time and not accustomed to the individualistic atmosphere of an American university,” said Dr Rabia.
The US department of state’s EducationUSA network of more than 400 international student advising centres in more than 175 countries, including the UAE, organises activities such as pre-departure orientations and offers resources to help students prepare and develop skills to adjust to new challenges in the United States, said Alfred Boll, branch chief for EducationUSA in the US.
“If students have specific questions, they can contact the EducationUSA advising centre at the US embassy in Abu Dhabi or the US consulate general in Dubai, or visit educationusa. state.gov,” said Mr Boll. The choice of school can make a difference in a student’s ability to adjust, said Anushka Chugani, director of operations for Hale Education, which counsels international students from the UAE.
“Many international students tend to transfer,” said Ms Chugani, who advises students abroad to take advantage of their school’s international student centre, which will have advisers and counsellors who can help them work through their issues. Mr Hamoodi described his five years in the US as an “excellent experience” and highly recommended others to study abroad.
He said it helped that he had a strong command of English, which he picked up in the American curriculum school he attended in the capital, and had an easy time making friends. “You have to keep an open mind. I mean, you learn to find yourself when you’re out of your comfort zone.”