{"id":383185,"date":"2026-08-28T03:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T03:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/383185\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T03:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T03:28:08","slug":"opinion-the-hardest-part-of-being-an-international-student-isnt-just-missing-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/383185\/","title":{"rendered":"OPINION: The hardest part of being an international student isn\u2019t just missing home"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>Moving across continents for a degree changes you in ways nobody prepares you for. ORACLE PHOTO\/ LEDA SILVEIRA<\/p>\n

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\u2019t expect to discover so much about myself along the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019d 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.<\/p>\n

That option does not exist here.<\/p>\n

Home is now a 25-hour flight away. Between visa restrictions and semester schedules, going back isn\u2019t something I can just decide to do. Seven months in, I still don\u2019t know when I will get back.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not missing home, it\u2019s missing the option of home.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a part of leaving home that often goes unspoken.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The first few weeks were disorienting in ways I didn\u2019t 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\u2019t check.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But while you\u2019re still figuring out which bus to take, life doesn\u2019t 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\u2019ll feel.<\/p>\n

Related: OPINION: USF\u2019s diversity offers connection beyond the classroom<\/a><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know anyone here, so I tried everything.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> at USF. I used BullsConnect to find clubs and people.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I emailed professors and labs asking about research. I walked up to strangers at Bull Market<\/a>, and asked what their organization did.<\/p>\n

Before every conversation, every email, every introduction, I counted down and then I did it.<\/p>\n

Around 50 emails total. Three people replied.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But some of those conversations led to what I\u2019m 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.<\/p>\n

Other international students describe a similar learning curve.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest challenge wasn\u2019t adjusting to coursework, it was learning how to navigate opportunities,\u201d said Aarya Satardekar, a Master of Public Health student at USF. \u201cAs an international student, I had to realize that research, internships and leadership roles don\u2019t automatically come your way. Being coachable, asking questions and putting yourself out there opened doors that ultimately led me into cancer research.\u201d<\/p>\n

USF had more than 7,000 international students in the last academic year, representing nearly 140 countries, said USF World<\/a>\u2019s website. Many of them went through some version of this.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Related: OPINION: Attacking international students, staff won\u2019t make Florida stronger<\/a><\/p>\n

Before I left India, someone told me that you get everything in the US, you just need to ask for it.<\/p>\n

Seven months in, that\u2019s still the truest thing I know about being here. But nobody tells you how many times you\u2019ll ask before anyone answers.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Moving across continents for a degree changes you in ways nobody prepares you for. ORACLE PHOTO\/ LEDA SILVEIRA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383186,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-383185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}