When I was looking at colleges in my junior year of high school, I specifically looked for schools that have a reputation for being “international-students-friendly.” In simple terms, I looked at the percentage of international students in each school and did not short list schools that had less than 10% of international students in their student body.
Wellesley College has one of the highest percentages of international students I found for a school of this size and a school with such academic prestige (read: a top tier school). Furthermore, I attended a United World College and I knew that Wellesley has a good reputation with the UWC movement when I applied. Three years later I can tell you that it’s great to be an international student and especially UWC alumna at Wellesley! Here, international students have a home away from home at the Slater International Center. Though we cannot actually live at Slater, we can study, cook and hang out there. We can also rent the space for private events. In addition to having our special space on campus, international students have their own adviser, Karen Zuffante Pabon. Karen and her staff assist international students with immigration and employment authorization paperwork as well as cultural adjustment to the United States. Slater International Student Organization is housed in the Slater International Center house. Slater International Student Organization is open to all Wellesley College students though most of its members are international students. Slater International is organizing its annual cultural show this weekend and here is the spam:
Spam for the Slater Cultural Show
In addition to Slater International there are several cultural orgs on campus. Some of them are the Asian Students Association, Japan Club, Korean Students Association, Chinese Students Association, Wellesley Arab Women Assocation, Wellesley African Students Association and Wellesley Association for South Asian Cultures among others. The Wellesley African Students Association is hosting its annual cultural show, Mamaland, on November 3. Here is the spam for the event:
Spam for Mamaland 2012
Since we are on the topic of culture and diversity, I’d like to mention that my friend Sylvia helped open an exhibit that features works by the Zimbabwean born and Boston based artist Clyde Bango. His wire sculptures are currently on display in the atrium of the Jewett Arts and Music building here at Wellesley. I encourage you to come check them out if you are in the Boston area! Find below pictures from some of his works (I apologize for the horrible picture quality…) :
Clyde Bango Exhibit
Clyde Bango Exhbit
Clyde Bango Exhibit