When considering housing options at the University of Waterloo in Canada, Nigerian undergraduate student Ayooluwa Solaja chose a living learning community, a residential house focused on a theme or academic interest area. Solaja lived on campus on the same floor with 10 to 15 other students in the Arts and Business LLC.
“I thought it would be beneficial to have additional academic support to ease my transition to university life in Canada. I also enjoyed the prospect of living with other people in my program,” says Solaja.
Prospective international students who want to immerse themselves in a new culture, hone language skills and connect with peers who share common interests may want to consider LLCs at U.S. and Canadian universities.
[Explore first-year interest groups as international student.]
Most LLCs house a mix of international, domestic, undergrad and graduate students. Some only accept students from a certain major or class standing, while others accept those with an interest in the community’s established focus.
There is no additional cost to join an LLC, and duration is typically one academic year but can vary. Experts suggest students check application procedures on university housing websites.
Here are three reasons prospective international students may want to consider LLCs.
1. Connect with like-minded students: Prospective international students can plan to choose an LLC to fully experience college life in a new country and find immediate support among residents. Unlike other housing arrangements, LLCs can provide a built-in community of like-minded individuals and be less isolating for new international students.
“Being able to self-select peer groups can help international students feel more comfortable and reduce anxiety around their big move,” says Leigh-Ellen Keating, director of international services at Brock University in Canada.
Solaja says a highlight of her experience in the LLC at Waterloo was “forming relationships with upper-year students in my program.” This included the LLC’s peer leader who provided her with everything from academic support to guidance on how to survive Canadian winters. Many LLCs have upper-division students who serve as peer leaders.
As part of the Global Living International LLC for juniors and seniors at Southern Connecticut State University, Australian Natasha Fitzpatrick says she’s happy to be among residents who share her love for travel and cultural exploration.
“A group of us hired a car and traveled down to North Carolina sightseeing. Other years I have done Boston, Pennsylvania, New York,” says Fitzpatrick, a transfer student.
[Learn why international students are each other’s biggest advocates.]
2. Participate in community activities: For those worried about being on the outside as a new international student, LLCs encourage participation through various on- and off-campus activities.
For example, students in Ryerson University‘s fashion LLC have attended Toronto Fashion week. Students in LLCs at the University of Iowa, which range from Be-WISE: Women in Science and Engineering to Political Matters, have taken part in everything from an Amazing Sustainability Race to an evening of literature at the Haunted Book Shop.
Through LLCs, “international students will have more opportunities to interact with domestic students, faculty and staff members outside classrooms,” says Shijuan Laurel Liu, assistant professor of Chinese and a partner with the Global Awareness LLC at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. In a Chinese New Year celebration associated with the LLC, for instance, students from her language and culture courses worked with Chinese students to introduce Chinese culture to the community.
[Discover three ways prospective international students can maximize campus life.]
Ghada Endick, director of residence education and staff development at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey–New Brunswick, says its International LLC is designed for first-year undergraduate international students from the School of Arts and Sciences. Students take part in activities like a harbor cruise around New York City, a celebration of the Hindu spring festival Holi and an international art show.
She says LLCs “create opportunities for individual students to make more meaningful connections to members of the Rutgers communities.”
On-campus events can be just as enriching. Solaja says coming from a different education system in Nigeria with sometimes unapproachable professors, she enjoyed LLC on-campus events like when she played board games with Waterloo professors and academic advisers. She says this showed that faculty take an interest in students and are accessible.
3. Network for job opportunities: International students who plan to gain work experience in the country they study in can benefit from LLCs that are associated with campus departments and staff. This can provide them with chances to network and inquire about work opportunities.
Liu from Indiana University of Pennsylvania says when Chinese tutoring positions and graduate assistantships became available, she thought of international students from the Global Awareness LLC who previously helped her organize events, “because I knew they would do good work.” She also wrote reference letters for those students when they applied to graduate school.
Robert C. DeMezzo, director of residence life at Southern Connecticut State University, says LLCs “help many international students secure employment on campus.” He says they’ve hired international students from LLCs for positions such as graphic designer, welcome desk and computer lab support staff.
SCSU student Fitzpatrick says her experience in the school’s international LLC “allowed me to be an orientation ambassador for the international community for the last two years.” She says the LLC prepped her for the role since she became accustomed to assisting students who were living far from home or adjusting to U.S. culture.
Solaja says her year living in Waterloo’s Arts and Business LLC was one of her best decisions. However, she says prospective international students should know that LLCs are very interactive and emphasize connecting with people through various activities and events, so they should plan to participate. “You get what you put into the program,” she says.
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Consider Living Learning Communities as a Prospective International Student originally appeared on usnews.com
