Moving across continents for a degree changes you in ways nobody prepares you for. ORACLE PHOTO/ LEDA SILVEIRA

Seven months ago, I left my job, my family and my friends in India and moved to Tampa. I expected a new degree and a new city, but I didn’t expect to discover so much about myself along the way. 

I’d lived away from home before. Three years in a different city, on my own. I thought I knew what it felt like. But back then, whenever things got too heavy, I got on a bus. Ten hours, and I was home.

That option does not exist here.

Home is now a 25-hour flight away. Between visa restrictions and semester schedules, going back isn’t something I can just decide to do. Seven months in, I still don’t know when I will get back.

It’s not missing home, it’s missing the option of home.

That’s a part of leaving home that often goes unspoken. 

The first few weeks were disorienting in ways I didn’t anticipate. A 10-minute walk from the MSC to the engineering led me to wander for 45 minutes. Another time, I was so sure the purple Bull Runner went to the Chemistry building that I didn’t check.

It doesn’t.

I ended up near the Holly Apartments with no idea where I was. Nobody around me seemed to need a map. It felt like everyone already knew where they were going.

Being on your own here is both the hardest part and the most surprising gift. I spent hours in the library with nowhere to be. I sat at Simmons Park watching the campus go by. That solitude taught me to slow down in a way that a classroom couldn’t. 

I learned to be patient with myself and with the pace of things. I was used to things happening quickly, so having nothing to rush toward felt uncomfortable at first. Over time, I learned that not everything needs to happen right away. 

But while you’re still figuring out which bus to take, life doesn’t pause. Resources like BullsConnect and career fairs can connect you with people and opportunities you might not find otherwise. The sooner you start, the less behind you’ll feel.

Related: OPINION: USF’s diversity offers connection beyond the classroom

I didn’t know anyone here, so I tried everything.

I followed USF student organizations on Instagram. I showed up to Coffee and Bagels, a free weekly event at the MSC hosted by Lifelong Learners at USF. I used BullsConnect to find clubs and people. 

I emailed professors and labs asking about research. I walked up to strangers at Bull Market, and asked what their organization did.

Before every conversation, every email, every introduction, I counted down and then I did it.

Around 50 emails total. Three people replied. 

But some of those conversations led to what I’m still part of now, including a research position in the Max Systems Lab and a graduate student ambassador role at Bellini College. USF started feeling smaller in a good way.

Other international students describe a similar learning curve.

“The biggest challenge wasn’t adjusting to coursework, it was learning how to navigate opportunities,” said Aarya Satardekar, a Master of Public Health student at USF. “As an international student, I had to realize that research, internships and leadership roles don’t automatically come your way. Being coachable, asking questions and putting yourself out there opened doors that ultimately led me into cancer research.”

USF had more than 7,000 international students in the last academic year, representing nearly 140 countries, said USF World’s website. Many of them went through some version of this. 

In a 2019 study by the National Association of Foreign Student Advisors of 198 international students at Penn State, loneliness ranked as the fourth most common psychological stressor, said NAFSA.

At USF, resources like the Office of International Services can help with guidance and BullsConnect can help you meet other international students. Both of these helped me.

Related: OPINION: Attacking international students, staff won’t make Florida stronger

Before I left India, someone told me that you get everything in the US, you just need to ask for it.

Seven months in, that’s still the truest thing I know about being here. But nobody tells you how many times you’ll ask before anyone answers.