It was difficult for the second-year mathematics and economics student to adjust to college life in the United States, far away from her family in Mumbai, India.
Events with the Hill’s Global Connections Council, like an international movie night, helped Aditi Agrawal connect with students from other cultures.
The 12-member Global Connections Council was founded spring quarter last year and puts on events for international residents such as Holi, a collaborative mural and academic workshops.
The council is currently in the process of choosing next year’s members, which will include six current residents and six incoming first-year students.
The need for the council became clear after the increase in international students living on the Hill in the past four years, said Steve Lin, a coordinator in the First Year Experience office and co-founder of the council.
“There’s clearly a huge population of international students, but there weren’t many avenues for them to get involved, voice their opinions and concerns and feel integrated in the Hill community,” Lin said.
Some of the students on the council said they joined to find common ground between themselves and other international students.
Riya Didwania, a second-year international development studies and psychology student from Mumbai, said she joined the council because she wanted to help break down the misconceptions she heard about people from different cultures.
Members of the council have concrete goals they want to achieve, such as addressing the extra costs for living on the Hill over winter break.
Since some international students can’t afford to go home during winter break, they have to stay in the dorms without access to the dining halls and must pay extra, said Devyani Rana, a second-year business economics and political science international student.
Rana added that her favorite event put on by the Global Connections Council this year has been a mural set up outside of Bruin Café, on which people drew different cultural symbols or their names in different languages.
“There was such a great and unexpected enthusiasm among the students, people stayed for hours after our set time to finish,” Rana said.
Funding for the council comes from the First Year Experience program as well as partnerships with other groups, like the Dashew Center for International Students and Scholars and the undergraduate student government, to put on events.
The council’s next event will be the Cultural Performance Night on May 14 from 5 to 7 p.m. in the De Neve quad.