Pros and Cons

Living in America when you are an international student definitely has it's pros and cons. Craig Steward a Sophomore studying Biology agrees. "The job situation is annoying and you don't have the freedom to do what you please because you're kind of tied down when you are here," said Steward. "Everything is a pain, even little things like setting up a bank account."

But, Steward also enjoys the advantages. "Going to school here is a lot cheaper than going somewhere at home," said Steward.  "I also really like the atmosphere of our school, I couldn't go to a church school in Canada."

After weighing the pros and cons Steward wants to stay down in the states. "I want to stay down here and go to Med school," said Steward. "I just want to be independent from my family and there is a lot more opportunity here," said Steward.

Canadian and Jobless

Sleeping in until noon and having the whole day to lounge around in a robe doing whatever your heart desires might sound like the dream life when students are overwhelmed with jobs and school work, but Daniel Brownlee feels otherwise. "I hate it, I really wish I could work and have an actual good job," said Brownlee.

Brownlee, a Sophomore studying Mechanical Engineering, is on his off track and jobless. Brownlee is from Calgary, Alberta, Canada and his F1 student Visa permits him to only work on-campus on his off track. Brownlee spends his days sleeping in, working on business plans, and working out. While these activities were nice at first, they quickly grow tiresome.

Brownlee applied for several jobs on campus with no luck. "I was beaten out by a professional plumber for a job doing maintenance for the school," said Brownlee. "People seem less likely to hire international students because of the hassle of all the extra paperwork and having to wait for me to get a social security number." The search for a job in the this economic climate is tough for the average American student, but even more challenging for international students such as Brownlee.

International Associations

There are 15 International Student Associations this semester. Here are the meeting times and places of those that meet weekly.

• The French Association meets every Thursday at 6 pm in Hinckley 245.
• The Japanese Cultural Association meets every Friday from 6 - 7 pm in the Taylor building room 105.
• The Latin Association meets every Thursday at 7 pm in the Taylor building in room 105.
• The Polynesian Cultural Association meets every Thursday at 7pm in Spori 137.
• The Russian Association meets every Thursday at 6 pm in Hinkley 383.

International Marriage

I sometimes feel like I am International student myself because I am married to a Canadian, so I can definitely relate to some of the difficulties International students have to go through. The biggest challenge that we have faced is money. It is so incredibly hard to get a job in Rexburg, I can never find one and my husband can only work on campus and hasn't had much luck finding one there either. My husband also does not qualify for government aid such as Pell Grants because he is not American, so, we continuously have to move back up to Canada to work, which I do not like at all.

My husband is a mechanical engineering major and most of the United States engineering firms have government contracts which require their employees to be U.S. citizens. So, when we are done with school, we will probably have to go back up to Cananda because he won't be able to work down here.

So, I can relate to many of the financial difficulties International students struggle with. We hopefully will be able to afford to apply my husband for permanent residency and eventually citizenship so we won't have to keep moving back and forth every six months.