At the Melting Pot, one of the questions we’ve come to ask ourselves is how an outsider to a community ends up becoming an insider in that very same community. Given that this magazine is run mostly by students of the College of Wooster, it only seemed fitting to take a look at how or if someone has managed to make the change from being an outsider to the College of Wooster to becoming a part of the campus community. Given that the transition from being an outsider to an insider is a personal and unique process for every individual, I thought it would be best to conduct interviews with a few international students currently studying at the college to ask how different those processes might have been for different groups of people.
As an international student myself, I can say with certainty that the experience of living on campus, in the beginning at least, is that of an outsider. I personally traveled over 30 hours by plane and across half the world to reach the College of Wooster, and the very first thing that stuck out to me…was me. I had little idea of where I was and where I was going in that first week on campus before classes began. But now, like any other senior at the college, I have found my own rhythm at which I live life here on campus. However, that rhythm is subject to change every semester due to a semester-ly change in subjects. Needless to say, a far cry from my own life back home.
Every day of the week is different and a majority of any given day is jam packed with classes; and afterwards there are assignments, tests, quizzes, exams, projects, etc. In addition to academic responsibilities, I also work two different jobs on campus that take their share of time during the day. This has left only scraps of time for myself, most of which is spent attempting to decompress from the day’s barrage of tasks. That being said, I believe this relentless wave of obligation that every student is forced to deal with is one of the many ways by which an outsider can become an insider on campus.
This is a mere snippet of my own story, but I was far more interested in hearing from other international students on how they have been getting on with their campus lives. The main reason why I chose to interview international students to discuss the transition from an outsider to an insider was because they are a group whose common variable is diversity. International students are likely to be the ultimate outsiders in a college in a mostly Caucasian city located deep in the heart of Northeast Ohio, about an hour away from any major city.
The first question presented to the interviewees was one that helped established a baseline for their time on campus. This allows for the succeeding questions to deal with the outsider to insider conundrum.
#1 “Please describe your life on campus currently?”
Our anonymous contributor has been slammed with ever increasing amounts of class work this semester, and so answered this question by focusing on the routines that make up their day. “My routine depends on my class/work schedule. Something that is consistent throughout my days is making coffee every morning, I don’t leave my room without making coffee. Besides the obvious need for caffeine (which I should clarify that I would get massive withdrawal headaches if I delay my coffee intake) I find it to be encouraging and meditative. When my day ends, I like to go on a walk, while listening to music.”
For Jamie Do, who is in her final year at Wooster, her life on campus currently revolves around her numerous and sometimes overbearing academic responsibilities. That being said, she is trying her best not to let work stifle other parts of her life.“Currently, I have been very busy doing I.S. and preparing for my next step after Wooster. But I’m trying to catch up with friends as much as possible. I spend most of my time in the lab and in Timken. When I need to relax after work or study, I usually take a walk to the quad near Armington or to the college’s garden.”
Charlotte Elgie answered the question by looking back at her overall experience on campus thus far, which includes this current semester as well as her freshman year. “My life on campus currently is great, except for the cold winter days that Ohio seems to bring to campus. I have made many friends, and I am so grateful for the friends I have made. I’m happy that this year has been warmer so far, and this year has also been so different than my freshman year. So many more opportunities have come up, and friends have come and gone but things are looking up.”
Having established some idea of what and/or how the participants were doing, I thought it was best to find out what their original expectation of campus might have been.
#2 “What did you expect campus life to be before first setting foot or laying your eyes on the campus?”
Charlotte Elgie’s thoughts encompassed the independence and difficulty that comes with freedom, but also her own reasons for choosing Wooster. “I expected campus life to be freeing, in the sense of gaining a newfound sense of independence, which was true, but it was difficult at first, like making a bank account without my parents and being in a different country for an extended amount of time, more than what I was used to. I chose to come to Wooster because they have a large international student percentage, and I wanted to come somewhere diverse, and my expectations were definitely met because I have so many amazing friends who are from so many different countries.”
Jamie had no specific expectations about the campus, but rather a fervent desire to make connections once in the unknown. “To be honest, I had no expectations coming into Wooster. I picked the college without any prior visit. When I decided to go to Wooster, I was most excited and nervous about making new friends and whether I would do well in classes. Being in college allowed much more freedom compared to boarding school, so I enjoyed campus a lot during my first year. After that, things started to get more serious, and I got used to things, so the excitement somewhat plateaued out.”
The anonymous contributor was the only interviewee that had any prior knowledge of Wooster, and the life of a college student on campus. This seemed to act as a portent of the events that would come to pass. “I knew a couple of people who had gone to Wooster. I remember how stressed they were in their senior year because of I.S—I see it now.”
With such focus on campus life and that expectation of it, I wanted to bring context to campus life by asking them about their own lives away from Wooster.
#3 “How is your life on campus different from your life back home?”
For our Anonymous contributor, finding a difference was difficult due to large gaps in time. “I was much younger when I left home, I don’t remember having set routines or strict schedules besides going to school.”
For Jamie, life on campus could not have been more different in every single possible way. “Life in Wooster is so different compared to my home in Ho Chi Minh city. It is much more tranquil here compared to a place with 12 million people. There were always things to do or to see in Ho Chi Minh city as it was nicknamed “the city that never sleeps.” On the other hand, Wooster is much greener and cleaner.”
Charlotte’s life back home differs due to the geography, but also because of what she is able to do for leisure back home. All of which is not possible on campus. “My life on campus is different from life at home because back home in Vancouver, Canada, there are mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It doesn’t get as cold as it does in Wooster because we don’t have a wind chill because the mountains block the wind, which always surprises people. There are definitely more things to do back home than on campus, but in both places, I love to spend time with my friends. In Vancouver, the overall population is very diverse, which is different from life on campus which is primarily white. I do find myself missing little things, like being able to walk on the beach, night drives (I don’t have a car on campus), and Tim Hortons which is a much better option than Dunkin Donuts; quite frankly it doesn’t even compare. I haven’t found myself being homesick like some of my domestic peers, but I had a very different high school experience than a lot of my friends, and I have been happier in college, and some of my Canadian friends from back home don’t like their schools and can’t grasp the American college experience, which is unfortunate.”
With the framework of their lives having been set up, I thought it was time to ask the most consequential question of the piece.
#4 “What is the moment your transition from outsider to insider on campus occurred and how did it happen?”
Charlotte answered by speaking about her first time in Wooster as well as the orientation she went through during her freshman year. “I was nervous about the transition from leaving Canada and coming to the United States, but once I came to campus and saw how beautiful it was, my nerves started to disappear. I also enjoyed international student orientation, and my ISOC’er (International Student Orientation Committee) Mihn was super sweet and she helped me make a smooth transition into college life. We still get lunch sometimes, which is really nice. I also find myself connecting more to my Canadian roots more when I’m here, and I have become a prouder Canadian. People are always shocked that I’m Canadian because people think that I don’t ‘look international’- which is interesting because it is interesting that I am considered an international student because Toronto is just a short 5-hour drive away where many more international students have to take multiple flights to get here. I still have to take 2 flights to get here, and it is difficult to get here from Vancouver, which is something that I didn’t think about when considering my acceptance to Wooster.”
To the Anonymous contributor the distinction between outsider and insider was not even a factor in their view of themselves or the campus. Also the pandemic created an uncommon situation that irrevocably skewed the outsider and insider view of campus. “I don’t think I was ever uncomfortable. I’m a pretty independent person, I think I was looking forward to being responsible and figuring things out for myself. I think the transition probably happened with COVID; I studied remotely in the Fall 2020. Coming back to campus and navigating everything during COVID was weird for all of us; it just made me realize that every year comes with its own challenges and quirks.”
For Jamie, the process may have been so gradual that it is hard to pick a point where the transition took place. It is possible that welcoming in new freshmen to campus may have been an indicator that they had become an insider. “I don’t recall a moment when I found myself an insider on campus. For me, it was a gradual process (to be honest, it was probably when you got sick of Lowry food). I think toward my sophomore year when I welcomed the incoming class of Vietnamese First years and showed them around, it was when I considered myself an insider.”
These vibrant and unique responses were from only three different international students here at the College of Wooster. Each person’s journey from outsider to inside was nothing like the others, even though they were all international students. This piece gets at a fundamental truth about many students here at the College; all of us start as an outsider to our own community, but eventually we all become a part of it despite our journey there being wholly our own.
Special Thanks to the Contributors
Jamie Do, Charlotte Elgie, Anonymous contributor