HDF 414

Leadership for Activism and Social Change

 Target Group
• International Students at URI – specifically first year college students.
 Research:
• International students make one of the biggest decisions of their life when
they choose to study at a university in a different country
• They leave their family, friends and home behind and brace themselves for
huge changes.
• Their first year at college is usually the hardest because they’re still in the
process of adjusting to their “new life” and overcoming culture shock.
 Goal
• To advocate for international first year college students at URI.
• Learn ways in which their transition to America and the U.S. college culture
can be made easier.
• Conduct activities and programs to help them feel involved in the
community.
• Provide them with resources to help during times of homesickness and
culture shock.
 Why am I interested in this project?
• I am an international student at URI and although my experience adjusting
to college was fairly easy, I know it was harder for a lot of the friends I met
at international student orientation.
• I was lucky to find a great group of friends at URI who immediately became
my biggest support system but culture shock and homesickness is extremely
normal.
• I want to think of ways, activities and resources that we can use to help these
students during their first year in a new country/environment.
 How am I a Social Change Agent?
• A change agent is: persuasive. I definitely agree with this and believe that I am indeed very
persuasive. If I truly want something, I will try my hardest to ensure it happens without giving up.
Many times I have been able to convince people to believe in my opinion and I often go out of my
way to do this with perfectly formulated reasons and I don’t give up until I’ve won the argument.
Obviously I am okay with agreeing to disagree but most of the times I let my persuasive skill take
over.
• Change agents can: Communicate ideas clearly, concisely and precisely both orally and in writing.
This is no doubt what I practice every chance I get. According to GallupStrengths, communication is
my top strength and I truly believe that any problem can be solved with effective communication. It’s
also the best way to make connections with people, express your ideas and write down your thoughts
and reasons.
• Change agents have: Courage. Once again, this relates to one of my Values: Bravery. Having courage
is about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and participating in things you wouldn’t
necessarily want to do. Courage is also about standing up for what you believe in, even if the whole
world is against you and that’s definitely something that I practice.
 Relating strengths/values to my Advocacy Project

• My top strengths are communication, adaptability, restorative, harmony and positivity.

• My top value strengths are kindness, love, bravery, leadership, and gratitude.
• Based on my strengths of bravery, I made the decision to study at a university on the
other side of the world. With adaptability and positivity, I was able to adjust to this
culture and country fairly with ease.
• My strength of restorative pushes me to find solutions to problems that I know exist,
thus making me interested in advocating for this one.
• I used my communication strengths while interviewing my professional contact.
 Professional Contact:
• Bowen Gillie – International Students Admission Counsellor
• - Experience working with international students for 10 years at the
University of Rhode Island.
• - Previously interned with the former counsellor at URI where he learned
international recruitment and how to review credentials from other
countries.
 Interview Questions and Responses
• Background Information:
• After interviewing my counsellor for almost 25 minutes, I gained a fair share of insight into
the other side of international admissions. Bowen Gillie has been working with international
students at URI for over 10 years now and has previously interned with the former
counsellor at URI where he learnt international recruitment and how to review credentials
from other countries. His favorite part of his job is the research that’s involved in learning
about the education systems in different countries. He told me about one incident in
particular where he had to study about the type of education in Vietnam in 1975 because a
student applied to URI after graduating from high school in 1975. I found that very
interesting and it opened my eyes to realize how much one can learn through their
profession.
 How would you describe the U.S. college
culture?
• Bo describes the U.S. college culture as holistic and not targeted. He mentions that
college life here is more focused on the journey rather than the destination. Schools
want students to be successful in their profession but they also want them to grow
as worldly individuals who can overcome a variety of obstacles and are comfortable
with people from different socioeconomic backgrounds. It’s a huge reason why
American schools highly encourage student interaction with their peers. To quote
Bowen, “You learn as much from your peers as you do from your professors.”
Campus culture inspires that by creating an environment that promotes engagement
– whether it’s through clubs and organizations or Greek Life, the college experience
in itself is an education prospect.
What do you think is the greatest challenge you
face while working with international students?
• The biggest challenge that Bo faces in his work is the political conflict in the
industry that he has to take into consideration now which makes recruitment
difficult. When deciding between students who get into URI and those who don’t,
he needs to look at their background and whether or not their home country has
friendly ties with the United States. Another challenge is the increased competition
America faces for international students. 10 years ago, studying in the U.S. was the
dream for several international students. However, as Canada, China, Australia, UK,
Russia, Singapore and New Zealand promote higher education in their country, the
U.S. college industry is now focused on competing for the small pool of students
across the globe who are looking to study abroad.
 Do you know of any coping mechanisms that
students use when dealing with culture shock?
• Bowen highlighted the significance of social media as a powerful tool that students use as it
allows for networking.
• The “Culture Shock and Adjustment Theory” focuses on a variety of behaviors students use
to adjust. One of them is marginalization – students are on the outskirts and refuse to
connect with both, their home and host country. Another behavior is assimilation – students
who cut themselves off from their home country and try to assimilate with the American
culture. Having done his thesis paper for his master’s degree on how international students
use social media as a form of adjustment to different cultures, Bo knew very well that
neither of those two behaviors work out in the long run. He stated that the best and most
effective way to adjust is integration. Students who make an effort to keep their ties with
family and friends back home as well as integrating with the American students on campus
are often the ones to combat culture shock the fastest.
 What resources does URI offer to students
needing support?

• We have the International Student Office which helps with immigration and
red tape on campus. There are counselling services that deal with minute
problems as well as serious mental health issues. However, he did mention
that the university has identified that they are lacking support systems that
are specifically focused on international students. The counselling services
offered to them are the same services offered to domestic students and
Bowen has addressed this as an issue because the concerns between the
students vary in many aspects
 Why Continue Research?
• The transition from high school to college is hard enough for everyone but
international students have to deal with the unfamiliarity of their environment.
• To make things easier for them, I want to try and set up a “buddy” system where
each international student gets paired up with a local from Rhode Island who can
show them the ways and take them around the state when needed.
• I am also working on making a “survival guide” for international students which will
provide information on the similarities and differences in day to day topics such as
currency, weather and vocabulary /slang.
 The Social Change Model
• The Social Change Model includes 7 C’s* of Leadership: Consciousness of Self,
Congruence, Commitment, Collaboration, Common Purpose, Controversy with Civility,
Citizenship, *The 8th C- Change
• Consciousness of Self – I know my strengths and values and how I was able to use
them during this transition period of my life. I know what I struggled with, what did/did
not work for me and what helped me. I want to put that knowledge to use when helping
our future international students.
• Collaboration – I would love to collaborate with the other international students on this
project and get their input/suggestions because I’m hoping we all share the same
common purpose and are willing to help others out.
 References
• Haynie, Devon. “U.S. Sees Record Number of International College Students.” U.S.
News, 11 Nov 2013, https://www.usnews.com/education/best-
colleges/articles/2013/11/11/us-sees-record-number-of-international-college-
students
• Komives, S.R., Lucas, N., & McMahon, T.R. (2007). Exploring leadership: For
college students who want to make a difference (2nd Ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-
Bass.
• Higher Education Research Institute (HERI). (1996). A social change model of
leadership development: Guidebook version III. College Park, MD: National
Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs
 Project: Buddy System
• Pair every international freshman with a RI local as their “buddy”
• Assign them this buddy the summer before their first semester
• This RI local can show them around town, help them adjust to their
surroundings and is always there to answer questions
• They help them decide what to pack for college, as well as provide them with
useful information