Exploring Communities: International Students

Exploring Communities: International Students

Joseph L. Cannell
University of Kentucky

Exploring Communities: International Students

Abstract
The topic that I conducted my research on for this project was international college students and
how they go through different challenges and hardships than regular college students. The area
that I focused on during my research was over students from Malaysia who came over to the
United States for college. I studied this topic through internet research and by conducting two
interviews with fellow classmates who are from Malaysia. These students names are Azri
Jusnaidi and Brandon Low. These interviews really allowed me to get a first-hand account of the
difficulties that international students face when deciding what country to attend college in and
then trying to find a university that is a good fit for them. I also was able to try to understand
how difficult it can be to be so far away from family and friends for a year at a time, sometimes
even longer.

Exploring Communities: International Students

Many college students found it very difficult, at one point, to decide on what university
that they were going to attend after high school. They had to take in to account the state, city,
cost of tuition, how far away it was from home, what major they were going to study, etc. This
was potentially a very stressful decision to make that required some serious thought for these
students. Students who are going to be studying internationally, on the other hand, have a much
more difficult decision to make that requires a great deal of research and contemplation.
International students face many hardships throughout the entire college process, from deciding
what country to study in, which state or city, and which university would be a good fit for them,
as well as being away from their family, friends, and everything they have known their entire
life. The focus of this paper will be on international students who came from Malaysia to the
United States of America.
The country of Malaysia is a fairly small area, and according to The World Factbook it
has a population of 30,073,353 and it is slightly larger than the state of New Mexico (CIA,
2014). In terms of the economy, Malaysia has been a country on the rise. In terms of the
education system, however, Malaysia has had a real problem in the category. According to an
article from The Malaysian Insider, The poor quality of Malaysias education system is more
worrying than the level of debt in its households This is because the countrys substandard
education system would affect the pool of skilled talent it needs to grow its economy to become a
high income nation, (Mahavera, 2014). He then goes on to say that Malaysian students scored
below average and ranked 52 out of 65 in 2012 on a performance assessment test called PISA,
which tests students knowledge in the subjects of math science and reading. These results from
the test showed how poor the education system was in Malaysia, despite receiving the largest
amount of funds from the nations budget.

Exploring Communities: International Students

In terms of higher-level education from the universities in Malaysia, the quality of

education is still not very good. According to the U.S. News (2014) global universities rankings,
the Universiti Malaya, which is the highest rated university in Malaysia, is ranked at number 423
and received a global score of 31.2 out of 100. To give a comparison of the universities in the
United States to the ones in Malaysia, the University of Kentucky is ranked at number 268
globally, while only ranking at number 129 in the United States alone. This shows the huge
difference in quality of education between just an average university in the United States and the
best university in Malaysia. This also shows why a student from Malaysia would want to study
internationally and come to the U.S. to get a better college education. According to Rick
Newman of Yahoo! Finance, A new study by job-search site Indeed finds that the United States
is the top destination, by far, for people looking for jobs outside the country where they live
(U.S. job market, 2014). This represents another reason a student could choose to study
internationally and stay in the U.S. so that they can have and maintain a good job in the field that
they chose to come here to study.
Although students who choose to study internationally do so for good reason, they may
face many hardships when deciding where they want to attend school and also when they arrive
at the destination of their choosing. The first difficult task that these students face is that of
choosing what country that they would like to study in. This can require a great deal of research
on education at the universities in each country, or can simply be based off of a dream that a
student has had his or her entire life to move to a specific country. The United States is seen
somewhat as the promised land for many people from foreign countries in search of a better
life, job, or education. The next thing that the student must decide is what university in that
country do they want to attend or which would be the best fit for them. This could also be a very

Exploring Communities: International Students

difficult decision to make, especially in the United States, as there are so many fine universities
throughout the entire country and each one with a very unique tradition. Some students, however,
may have always dreamed of going to a particular university and find it easy to choose a
university that they believe to be a perfect fit for them. Once arriving at the university of their
choosing, these international students face a whole new set of challenges and hardships that they
must overcome. These include being far away from family and friends, making new friends at
their new school, experiencing culture shock in their new country, and perhaps adjusting to new
methods of learning.
In order to help understand and get a first-hand account of what these students
experience, I interviewed two students at the University of Kentucky by the names of Azri
Jusnaidi and Brandon Low. These individuals are both from the country of Malaysia. Each of
these students found it difficult to transition here, but also are happy that they came to the U.S.
My parents did not want me to come to the United States, but I did what I wanted to do because
I knew that it would make me happy (A. Jusnaidi, personal communication). This shows just
one of the many difficulties international students can face in deciding to come to the U.S. Also,
Brandon stated that, The hardest part of studying internationally would have to be adjusting to
the different style of education (B. Low, personal communications). This example proves that
students may find it hard to adapt to the different style of learning here compared to what they
grew up with.
In conclusion, these international that choose to come to the United States to further their
education face many difficulties throughout their time in college including being away from
friends and family, adjusting to a new culture, and becoming familiar with new styles of learning.
They make many sacrifices in order to come to the United States from their home country, and in

Exploring Communities: International Students

return they receive higher education from some of the best universities in the world. Many of the
most prestigious universities in the world are located in the U.S. and this, along with great job
opportunity, is a big reason why this great country is the top destination for people from outside
of the country, including international students, to relocate to.

Exploring Communities: International Students

References
Central Intelligence Agency. (2014, June 20). The World Factbook. Retrieved
February 23, 2015, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/my.html
Mahavera, S. (2014, March 25). Low quality Malaysian education more alarming
than household debt, says World Bank economist - The Malaysian Insider. Retrieved
February 22, 2015, from http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/lowquality-of-malaysian-education-more-alarming-than-household-debt-says-w
Newman, R. (2014, July 16). The U.S. job market looks great to this group
of workers. Retrieved February 22, 2015, from http://finance.yahoo.com/news/foreignworkers-still-love-the-united-states-143954889.html
U.S. News. (2015, January 1). 2015 Best Global Universities. Retrieved February
22, 2015, from http://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/rankings