By Martin Lidholm
Bangor, Maine – A new semester means new international students arriving at Husson University. Seven new foreigners have arrived this semester, to live through new experiences and face different challenges.
Jesper Ramström from Örebro, Sweden, is one of the new international faces at Husson. He is now a part of the about 90-100 international students at the University. Ramström arrived to the U.S. in the middle of January and is already enjoying his time in the country and especially at Husson. “It is a small school, but that is something positive. Because of the size of the school, you get to know a lot of people,” Ramström said.
After a month at Husson, Ramström is feeling like home. “Now, I have started to get to know quite a few people. I have also started playing some indoor soccer with the soccer team. At the moment, I really like it here,” Ramström said.
However, he felt that his first few days at the University were a bit stressful. “There was a lot of new things to take in all at once, and there was a lot of different things that I had to deal with,” Ramström said. “I have been in the U.S. before, but this is not the same thing as being on vacation.”
Ramström feels that he was well welcomed at the University, another reason why he is enjoying his time at Husson. “When I arrived, it felt like everyone wanted to help me enjoy my time here,” Ramström said. “The teachers are willing to help you all the time. As soon as I meet a new teacher, they tell me that I should come to them when I need help.”
This semester, Ramström is looking forward to making new friends and go through new experiences. “So far, all the people I have met have been nice to me. Therefore, I am looking forward to meet new people this semester. Since people are more open-minded here than in Sweden, it is easier to make new friends,” Ramström said.
Andrius Ksikvas, Administrative Assistant for Enrollment Management and International Initiatives at Husson, was one of the people that welcomed Ramström to Husson. He believes that international students add a lot to the overall community at the University. “It´s very important for Universities all around the world to have international students. It doesn´t matter if it is in USA, Europe or any country,” Ksikvas said. “I think it is important for students to see the full spectrum of different characters and cultures. This provides the students with the exposure of how to communicate and relate to people with different backgrounds.”
To make sure that new international students arrive at Husson every semester, the staff does a lot of things to reach out to new recruits. “We have online presence, we have social media presence, we have Colleen Grover who travels to different conferences and makes a lot of different connections with agencies and advisers,” Ksikvas said. “We definitely put in a lot of effort in this matter at Husson University and it is nice to see that there is a big commitment from the leadership to support that.”