The start of a new semester can be challenging for any student but may be even more so for international students. Kent State University offers a welcoming space for international students who are looking for opportunities to get involved on campus and in the community through its annual International Student Resource Fair.
Teniola Akinbile, a sophomore economics major from Ghana, was interested in learning more about the resources available to her as an international student at Kent State.
“During my freshman year, I didn’t really get the chance to meet some of the organizations around campus for international students,” Akinbile told Kent State Today. “So whenever they [the university] do something, I try to go and just see if there’s anything new.”
The International Student Resource Fair, held Sept. 23, connected international students to organizations on campus that they may not have previously known about.
The Office of Intercultural Student Life hosted the event in Room 218 of the Kent Student Center. Tables with representatives from different organizations lined the room, each offering resources to students. Many international students came to see what was available to them on campus.
“It’s an international community event,” said Haniya Hashim, a junior neuroscience major on the pre-medicine track from Saudi Arabia. “I always love going to those kinds of events because it feels welcoming.”
Papa Kwasi Asante, a first-year computer science major from Ghana, came to the fair eager to discover what organizations he could get involved with. He was particularly interested in education abroad.
“A lot of international students might not know that they are able to still study abroad,” said Bianca Nakid Filaskoski, a graduate assistant in Global Education, a part of the College of Honors and Global Education. “So we’re here to let them know that you can still go abroad with Kent State and have another experience that’s different than studying in the U.S.”
Connecting students with specialized departments like Global Education is just one piece of the event’s broader mission. For event organizers, timing the fair after the initial rush of the semester gives students the space to ask deeper questions and build lasting connections.
“By hosting this resource fair a month into the school year, the hope is that now they’re starting to have questions, they’re feeling more adjusted, ready to actually get help and find ways to get involved, and we can provide that for them,” said Ashton Leigh, assistant director of Intercultural Student Life. “The goal is just to really help international students find different, fun ways to get involved here and find community.”
The resource fair isn’t only helpful to first- and second-year students.
Mololuwa Foluso, a senior computer science major from Nigeria, came to the fair in hopes of discovering resources that could help him as he “transitions into being a graduate.”
“I saw there were opportunities for students to go and volunteer,” Foluso said. “Volunteering is something that I’ve always been passionate about, but I never knew there were opportunities to do that over here.”
While the fair was mainly targeted toward international students, some domestic students also attended and found it helpful.
“I just wanted to get to know more about all the different activities and things that I could get involved in,” said Juliet Harris, a first-year psychology major.
Many other students at the fair agreed with this sentiment and appreciated different on-campus resources being available in one place.
“We have a lot of resources on campus,” said Malak Ahmed, a sophomore neuroscience major on the pre-medicine track, “and it’s nice to see them all together in one place and know where to go when we need them.”
Learn more about International Student and Scholar Services.
