Coming from more than 40 countries, a group of incoming Georgia Southern University international students received a glimpse this week of what college life will be like when classes begin Monday.
    Nearly 90 students and their parents took part in Students Orientation and Registration (SOAR) for international students. SOAR is Georgia Southern’s orientation program for incoming students that lasts throughout the summer. The international session began Tuesday and ends today.
    The orientation for international students lasts three days, instead of the usual two to give students more time to become familiar with the area and different customs.
    “The main purpose of it, other than the student registering for classes, is orienting them how culture is concerned,” said Nicole Noel, a SOAR leader for the international session from Trinidad and Tobago. “We want them to get involved on campus, make a friend and do things that are fun for them because the campus is so user friendly and student friendly.”
    While tackling the SOAR’s usual lessons in college life, the international session also focuses on getting students familiar with a new culture. A group of volunteer international students serve as orientation leaders to help the students get acquainted with the area. A shopping trip to Walmart was one of the stops, along with helping open bank accounts and purchasing cell phones.
    “There’s so many things that we take for granted that we know. For example, our health care system can be completely different to a new international student,” said Kelley Riffe, international student coordinator for the Georgia Southern Center for International Studies.
    “A lot of the terms that we use, anything from check hold to deductible, we take for granted that we’re understood and they don’t understand it because it’s different than where they’re from.”
     Currently more than 300 international students attend Georgia Southern on student visas representing more than 100 countries, said Angie Threatte, administrative specialist for Georgia Southern’s Center for International Studies. Word of mouth and international career fairs are how she said Georgia Southern has made itself known overseas.
    “The majority of students [find out about GSU] through word of mouth. They usually go back home and tell their friends how it was a wonderful experience,” Threatte said. “When they go back and tell other people that’s how we get the majority of international student population.”
    Georgia Southern partners with a university in China to provide an exchange program, making China the most represented international country at GSU, Threatte said. Other largely represented countries include the Bahamas, Nigeria and India.