Today is move in day for new students!!! I woke up to the sound of excited families carrying couches and mattress pads down the hallway. I’m pretty settled in since I moved in last Friday – I’ve been on campus for a while now going through Student Leader Training, and then helping carry out Pre-Orientation or International Student Orientation between Wednesday and Thursday.
It’s been great being back on campus. I’ve been doing this back-and-forth ordeal, flying back to Tokyo for winter and summer breaks then back to Wellesley, for three years now but the shock of how beautiful Wellesley campus is does not ever go away for me. I am so grateful to be living in this park like environment, despite its bugs and hills and inaccessibility. I finally have a proper single this year too!! All the stuff I’ve accumulated in the past three years makes packing super difficult but it really helps to make this room look and feel cozy.
This year, I will be serving as Vice President of Slater, the International Student Organization at Wellesley. With my dear friend and president Lamisa, as well as the rest of the executive board of the org, I hope that the international community at this school will become even more unified and present on this campus, and work to increase awareness of global issues and multiculturalism at Wellesley.
There are currently 286 enrolled international students at Wellesley representing over 50 countries. These stats don’t necessarily include students like myself, those of dual-citizenship who enrolled as American students but have stronger connections to other countries.
Going through training and leading pre-orientation with this incredible team has made me realize all the amazing things I’ve come to love about this school. Preorientation is such a special time to me because three years ago, I was overwhelmed and excited and not knowing what life at Wellesley was going to be like… but then I met some of my best friend during these first few days on campus and it made my Wellesley journey the amazing one it has been.
Through talking, eating, and dancing with friends from all over the world, whose answers to “where are you from” are just as if not more complicated than mine, I’ve come to understand my own roots and identity better. I honestly do believe that I am a better person after meeting my international friends because my perspective of the world has expanded and deepened in ways I did not know were possible. Going to an international school in East Asia is a unique experience, one that bonds students who went to similarly set up schools in Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing, Taiwan.. but for me, the true manifestation of international, of multicultural, of global, of understanding and learning, can be found at Slater.
I hope if you ever visit campus you’ll be able to stop by the blue house on Tupelo Lane and come say hi to our family!
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