Student Gets Flavor of International Life Without Leaving Campus

Christine Clark | November 13, 2007

Many students at UCSD study abroad to get an international experience, yet Amy Dixit found hers on campus. She has volunteered at the International Center as an Orientation Assistant (OA) for the past three years, where she greeted international students and helped them acclimate to UCSD. She lived in the International House for one year and now she lives in an off-campus apartment with three other international students.

From the left: Chanisa Niljinda, Mara De Los Santos and Amy Dixit.

Last year, the International Center assisted more than 2,000 international students and 1,900 international scholars who came to UCSD. Every year, the center employs the help of volunteers for the OA program. The volunteers can be students, staff or community members. These individuals are responsible for welcoming more than 700 new international students, scholars and their families to UCSD every September before the beginning of the academic year.

“They are a wonderful asset to our campus,” Dulce Dorado, International Center senior student advisor said.

Dixit saw a flyer for the program at the end of her freshmen year and decided to be a volunteer. She said she has really enjoyed being a volunteer because it has given her the opportunity to work with students from other countries.

“Everything is new and exciting to international students,” Dixit said. “And a lot of them love San Diego, the beaches and the weather, especially the students from Northern Europe!”

She lived in India, the Middle East and Canada before moving to California five years ago. Dixit, who is a senior majoring in biochemistry and cell biology, wanted to have an international collegiate experience, but didn’t have time to study abroad. So she sought out international opportunities on campus, such as the OA program.

Although Dixit acts as a guide to the students for three weeks, she said she made long-lasting friendships with a lot of international students she guided.

“I still keep in touch with the other students,” she said. “When I would run into them on campus they knew they could always ask me questions freely. Those international students who actively pursue friendships with OAs tend to benefit from the experience.”
Dixit aids the international students in addressing a broad range of problems.

“Most common causes for concern seem to be housing, transportation and other logistical details that we, as locals, take for granted,” Dixit said.

She added that setting up bank accounts and cell phone plans may seem mundane to most people, but they can be a far bigger problem for international students if they don’t have a social security number or American credit history.

Dixit said that the international students she welcomed have been warm and easy to befriend.

“A lot of the students come here not knowing anyone, so they are open to making new friendships and they all tend to be very social.”

Dixit looks fondly back on the year the she spent living in the International House, where she lived beside many of the students she welcomed through the OA program.
She said she bonded with a lot of international students that year and the experience encouraged her to live with foreign exchange students in an off-campus apartment this year.

Dixit is planning on celebrating International Education Week Nov. 13 and partaking in the week-long event with her international friends.

“The opportunities to have international experiences at UCSD are here,” Dixit said. “You just have to go out and find them.”

For more information about the Orientation Assistant program please contact the International Center at (858) 534-3730.