International students gather in Girvetz Theater for Graduate International Student Orientation. Photos by Patricia Marroquin
Students enjoy a continental breakfast at Girvetz Hall.
“Welcome to this world of discovery, exploration, and creations.” With that, Dr. Claudine Michel, the Director of the Office of International Students & Scholars (OISS), warmly greeted the 150 new international graduate students who attended UC Santa Barbara’s Orientation Day geared toward them on Sept. 18 at Girvetz Hall.
From left: Fang He, Shuhan Yang, and Ziwei Zhong, all from China, get to know each other at breakfast. Fang will pursue a Ph.D. in American History; Shuhan and Ziwei are seeking master’s degrees in Economics.The packed day of activities, hosted by OISS, included a continental breakfast; a get-acquainted icebreaker activity; sessions on safety and violence prevention, immigration matters, and the English language placement exam; a graduate student panel; and library tours. The day was capped off with an afternoon reception at the Student Resource Building.
“The world is increasingly global,” Haiti-born Michel, a Professor of Black Studies who has taught at UCSB for 28 years, told the students. “And we are grateful to be able to have such a large class of incoming graduate students who are bringing to us very special, enriching experiences from other parts of the world. Different ways of thinking, different ways of being, different ways of apprehending scholarship, different traditions in terms of family and culture, different ways of learning and of engaging with scholarship.”
Third-year grad student Eugeniu Plamadeala of Moldova, center, leads an icebreaker session.
She emphasized that international students should not think of themselves as “taking” from the university. “You are also enriching what this university is about,” Dr. Michel said. “Our chancellor talks about our twin goals of diversity and excellence. And of course we have no diversity without the presence of graduate students.”
Students chat during a get-acquainted group session.
In her welcome to the new international grad students, Dr. Carol Genetti, Acting Dean of the Graduate Division and a Professor of Linguistics, pointed out that UCSB’s new international graduate students come from every corner of the globe except Antarctica. The largest percentage of new international grad students, she said, comes from the People’s Republic of China, and to applause, she briefly welcomed them in Mandarin Chinese. They join students from India, the second-largest representation of new grad students, and 33 other countries, where the languages spoken include Spanish, French, Dutch, German, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, Swahili, Korean, Russian, and Arabic.
Sepehr Seifi, left, of Iran, and Yilei Wang of China get acquainted. Sepehr will pursue a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, and Yilei will study for a Ph.D. in Computer Science.International graduate students play an important role at the university, Acting Dean Genetti told the students. “You are bringing the world to us and helping us together understand the complex issues that are facing our planet that we all share together,” she said. “You also are in the position of bringing UC Santa Barbara out to the world. So we see you as being our university’s ambassadors.”
Dr. Genetti had valuable advice to share. “Stay in close touch with your families,” she told them. A once-weekly phone call or Skype session will “let them know you are fine and doing well.” Those communications, she said, “will remind you that you have such wonderfully strong roots back home. And those roots are still supporting you across the distance.”
Bring a bit of your home here by finding others who are from your home country, she said, and celebrate holidays together. But also make friends with others who are not from your part of the world, she advised. Another important bit of advice: "Laugh a lot!"
“In my experience the best friends of your life are the friends that you make in graduate school,” Dr. Genetti told the students. “And so you are just about to meet a whole range of really remarkable people who are your fellow graduate students in your home departments.”
Dr. Genetti suggested getting involved in a wide range of activities, joining clubs and organizations. She also urged students to not be afraid to ask questions. There are many people to go to with those questions, including one very important and helpful person: the Graduate Program Assistant in students’ home departments.
“We want you to surpass your highest expectations for your own achievement,” Dr. Genetti told the students. “We want you to go far beyond where you think you can go. And we want to provide you with the resources to make sure you can do that.”
Vietnam-born Thuc-Quyen Nguyen, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCSB, told the international students that they may have to work harder than domestic students because of the language barrier and cultural differences, and may have doubts in their second year about whether they should proceed toward pursuing a graduate degree. However, she stressed that there’s “no written rule that you have to go through the Ph.D. path alone.” Dr. Nguyen said “communication is key,” advising the students to create relationships with advisors, friends, and faculty both within and outside their departments. Seek their guidance, advice, feedback, or simply their moral support.
Graduate Division Assistant Dean Christian Villasenor shares resources available for students.Panelists in an afternoon session provided the new grad students with resources, tips, advice, and candid thoughts on life as a grad student.
Graduate Division Assistant Dean Christian Villasenor talked about the division’s resources, which include units for financial support and admissions and outreach; graduate peer advisors; and the graduate student blog, The GradPost.
Other tidbits of advice from the panelists: ECE Student Affairs Manager Val DeVeyra urged students to manage their U-Mail accounts so they don’t get unwieldy, as these accounts are a crucial method of communication. Film and Media Studies grad student Rahul Mukherji told the students it’s OK to cancel your lab hours once in a while to go out and enjoy the great weather. And give your relationship with your advisor time to develop, he said, but don’t hesitate to change advisors if need be. Garay Menicucci, Associate Director of the Office of International Students & Scholars, urged students to come to OISS for any assistance. “We want to be your family away from home,” said Menicucci, who added that the office’s staff members are “your protectors and advocates.”
Rajlakshmi Purkayastha, a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Materials Department, and Jill Dunlap, Director of the Rape Prevention Education Program, lead a Safety/Violence Prevention session.
Students broke into groups by gender for a Safety/Violence Prevention session. One of the sessions geared for women was led by Jill Dunlap, Director of the Rape Prevention Education Program, and Rajlakshmi Purkayastha, a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Materials Department. Topics ranged from cultural adjustment to dating and domestic violence matters. Among their advice to the women students was to get active, think positively, eat a healthy diet, and seek help for any safety issues that may arise.
After library tours, everyone gathered at the Student Resource Building to end the day with pasta, salad, cookies, wine, and good company. New friendships were no doubt forged.
“We wish you our very best as you enter this new phase of your career,” Dr. Michel told the students earlier in the day. “Know that we are very grateful to you for the contributions that you will be making to UCSB and the world. … We know that because of your hard work and commitment to new knowledge, this world and planet will be better.”
Students ended the day at a reception in the Student Resource Building.