Far From Home, But Not Alone
- Gabriel Ward
- May 7
- 3 min read
Gabriel Ward
DAYTON, Ohio – “Sometimes it gets to a point where you miss my siblings, then my mom. I lost my Pa, but this is what I want, and this is what my family wants for me.” Dayton men’s soccer forward Felix Buabeng said.
Student-athletes feel the whole world separating them from their family, but not every student has the built-in support network of a team. Emily Mitolo, the interim director of the Global and Intercultural Affairs (GIA) Center, recalled a story of a student who had been at the University of Dayton all year and had not made a single friend, this coming to light when Mitolo asked how the student plans to spend their birthday. For students without a built-in friend group, isolation can last an entire year.
These sacrifices are common for international students coming over to the United States to chase their dreams. Felix is now one of 1.2 million international students studying at colleges or universities in the United States. Mitolo and Sangita Gosalia, the interim executive director of the GIA Center, discussed what they have experienced over their tenure at UD.
Unlike traditional students, student-athletes actually have more support when they arrive on campus. Mitolo said that “on top of the support that UD does for every student that’s coming, and then international students that are coming get more support from our office, and then this group of student-athletes gets additional support from their coaches and teams and all of that.” This is a part of a larger trend with the NCAA’s number of international student-athletes increasing more than 1,000% over the last 10 years.
This support, however, is not without reason. “I do think that their demands are a little bit different than, like, a typical student, because of their schedule; they travel a lot,” Gosalia added, “There’s a lot of nuances that can come into play, like, on the field or on the court, in terms of language, but also just how you play in roles and interpretations.”
The adjustments to American culture do not begin when someone arrives at UD; it actually begins well before. Many foreigners have perceptions of the United States that may be true or not. And for international students considering a move to Dayton, these perceptions bring concerns. One of the most common misconceptions that Mitolo and Gosalia discussed was the heavy police presence due to gun violence. Many students arrive at UD expecting danger but are surprised by what they actually discover.
“We are working to help build up that, the safety here, and the, I mean, gun violence is a big deal for folks, and parents are afraid for their kids to come here. So, how to work through that? I think it’s super sensitive, and making sure people feel safe while we can’t guarantee what happens outside these four walls,” Mitolo said.
Even after adjusting to American culture and, if you are a student-athlete, the sports system, international students still have to adjust to differences in the main reason they chose UD: the education system.
“I do think sometimes it’s maybe the form of instruction, the classroom dynamics, how that’s run. It’s just a little bit of an adjustment for some of our students. And I think that also varies based off discipline,” Gosalia said.
This change is something that has been well documented over the years. Across the country, international students learn that silence in the American classroom is actually penalized.
But despite all of the sacrifices that are made, there are twice as many success stories. Mitolo recalled an international student who graduated years ago but has come back for multiple degrees. And now, they are pursuing a PhD. For Felix and other international students, the struggles only make their successes more meaningful.
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