Changing schools and moving away is always scary, but what if you changed schools, moved, and went to a new country?

Of the over 6,000 people that attend Buffalo State University, more than 200 of those people are international students. Moving across the world has been rewarding for some, but a disadvantage for others.

Here are their stories:

Jahnavi Patel
Patel is from West India. She has been in America for almost 3 years and is still surprised by American culture. She is a junior majoring in art, with a special interest in painting. When applying for colleges, she was accepted to multiple schools around the world. She chose BSU to get the “New York experience” she saw on TV. When she first arrived, she was disappointed because it was nothing like the “New York experience” she had hoped for.

The longer Patel stays in America, the more disconnected she feels from her culture. One aspect of American culture she appreciates is the freedom she has. This new independence is so impactful to her that she still has the receipt from the first time she went grocery shopping by herself in America.

Patel has talked about how she feels ‘split’ between Indian culture and American culture. This split has caused her to lose friends; in India she’s “too American”, whereas in America she’s “too Indian”.

“Back home they call me coconut, because I’m brown on the outside but white on the inside,” said Patel.

This emphasizes how she feels conflicted about where she belongs. She constantly fears that as she gets older and spends more time away from home, she’ll ultimately lose contact with her original culture.

Antoine Lopez
Lopez is from South France and came to America as a requirement for his senior year. He is majoring in bilingual history, which means that half of his classes in France are in English. Lopez is only here for two semesters, but like Patel, to him America is a new world.

“I was already kind of far from my family in France because I was studying in another part of the country, but here it is different. I am not even on the same continent, and it may sound like a small detail but now I know that it’s not,” he said.

Lopez has mixed feelings about America. He credits the country for its welcoming culture, but he often feels that people only take an interest in him because he is French. The main drawback Lopez noted about America is its racism.

“I feel that some people draw a strong difference between black and white people, and it shocks me. We are in 2023 and I think that we are all humans before everything. Race is just a detail”, he said.

While noting that there are more minorities in America than in France, he is surprised that France is less resistant towards other races. After his time at BSU ends, he will graduate from his French University. He then plans to take a gap year to travel through Germany and learn more about their culture. After the gap year, he plans to live in several different countries and look for a new college to attend to further his degree.

Jim Rutte
Rutte is from the Netherlands, from a small village approximately 20-minutes away from Amsterdam. Unlike Patel and Lopez, Rutte is only here for one semester. While attending BSU, the biggest advantage for him is living on campus.

“I can eat, sleep, and go to my classes in the same spot. All my friends live here, and if I wanted to, I would never have to leave the campus,” he said.

Like Lopez, Rutte has credited Americans for their kindness towards him. However, his least favorite thing about America is the unhealthy and greasy food. He says that everything here has too much salt or sugar and is very harmful to the body. This change in diet has been very hard for him to adapt to.

Each of these international students agree that while BSU is hospitable and inviting, they continue to experience individual challenges while adapting to the drastic change in culture.