International Students and the Holidays

December 13, 2007 == MEDIA ADVISORY

Summary: Calvin College is creating a festive atmosphere for its
international students who can’t make it home for the holidays.

Full story see
http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2007-08/international-student-holiday.htm

Calvin College is creating a festive atmosphere for its international students
who can’t make it home for the holidays.

Anywhere from 12 to 20 students will hunker down in Calvin’s Knollcrest East
apartments from Saturday, December 15 until January 1, 2008, taking part in the
many holiday activities planned for them by Calvin residence life staff.

The students—from South Korea, Hong Kong and British Columbia—are a
fragment of Calvin’s sizeable international student community, numbering 305
students from 50 countries. (In the most recent Open Doors report from the
Institute for International Education, Calvin is rated sixth in the country
among baccalaureate institutions for the number of international students on
campus.)

Holiday programming is a necessity for a school with a sizeable international
population, says Rick Zomer, Calvin’s associate dean of residence life:
“When we bring students here, especially when they come from overseas,
it’s not realistic to think they will be able to go home. But even though
they’re not going to go home for Christmas, we’re trying to ensure that
they’ll still have an enjoyable time—even living away from their
families.”

The staff at Knollcrest East (KE) has planned a skating party, a Christmas
movie and other outings for itsinternational tenants. On Christmas Eve, the
group will attend a candlelight service at Berean Baptist Church.

“It’s really difficult for them, I think, to be away from their families,
and we try to make it as enjoyable as possible,” said Andrea Timmerman, the
Calvin community life coordinator who is in charge of the festivities at KE. As
the holiday season approaches, Timmerman is meeting with her RAs to come up
with creative ways to celebrate. “We’ll have a lot of programming going on,
so there’s always something for them to do.” In previous years, the KE
group has visited Fifth/ Third Ballpark to view the Christmas lights and ice
skated at Rosa Parks Circle.

Even though e-mail and Internet telephone programs like Skype allow
internationals to stay in contact their families, the holidays can be a
difficult time for them.

Since she came to Calvin in 2005, Junior Kara Shin, a native of South Korea,
has spent every holiday season away from her family. Because of the time
difference, telephoning them has been problematic. “There was one Christmas
during which I wasn't able to talk to them till 11 p.m. on Christmas day!”
she said. “Thankfully though, Skype will probably allow our communication
feel more personal and close because we'll be able to see each other's faces
this time.”

Increasingly, Calvin international students who can’t return home for the
holidays are, like Shin, finding holiday homes with friends and family in the
U.S., a trend encouraged by the residence life staff. “We think that’s a
better model because they’re staying with people they know,” Zomer said.
Yet many of these students, after spending Christmas elsewhere, will join the
international student community at KE for some part of the holiday break.

“If we as a college truly want to embrace community, we need to provide
community for them, especially around the holidays. We don’t want them to be
alone,” Timmerman said. “We want them to know they are a part of life at
Calvin.”

Contact Rick Zomer at 526-6633 or Andrea Timmerman at ant4@calvin.edu

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Received on Thu Dec 13 10:32:03 2007