University of Michigan International Center

You just landed at DTW and got to Ann Arbor. You probably spent long hours thinking about this new chapter in your life; indeed, this was a life-changing decision – moving to a new country and spending a decent amount of years in this university as a graduate student. In preparation for this transition, you did your homework; exploring google maps, looking for recommended places to buy groceries, thinking about the best place to live, worrying about making new friendships and rebuilding your lost professional network. Your anxious mind knew no rest. You also know that this university has resources, oh, so many resources – nonstop emails from your department, Rackham, the International Center, and many other units whose existence was completely unbeknownst to you up until this point constantly urge you to join meetings, listen to a lecture, and attend a cultural event. They all sound great and you wish you could do them all, but right now, you really miss your family. Your friends. You ...

My name is Sarah Samberi and I am a transfer student from a community college. As of today, I am a rising senior eager to see what next semester has in line for me. It is an exciting experience, however, there are a lot of things I have not figure out yet. I am not going to sugar coat the life as a student here at the University of Michigan, but no matter how stressful things get, always take things one thing at a time; this is something I wish people told me about sooner. My first few weeks as a transfer student were isolating. I fit neither as a freshman because I went to a community college previously nor as a junior because I did not have a full UofM’s experience. As a junior, people expected me to know my way around the works of the school such as: which classes to take or not to take, how to get involved in research, how to get a summer internship, and how to get a job. I didn’t have anything on the list. My classmates around me had those marked off already, and here I am, fe...

College life at Michigan is so unique and the perfect opportunity to explore yourself, who you think you are, and what will truly make you happy. Michigan offers so many opportunities to try new things, and there are so many ways to get out there and see what’s possible this coming semester! Just one of the many ways to get involved is by attending Festifall and Northfest right at the start of the year. There are hundreds of student orgs that are always looking for new members, from a capella groups to law fraternities to Game of Thrones watching clubs! Now there is no doubt about it, studying at Michigan is hard. There are periods where you will be inside for weeks with your head fuzzy from caffeine-fueled study sessions until 3 a.m. and the endless assigned readings that keep piling up. The winters are cold, and at times you may feel down by the lack of excitement in your routine. It is so important to make sure you are doing something for yourself each week that brings you...

All of us know that every transition in our lives is significant. In addition to excitement, we may feel that life becomes harder at the very beginning when we go to a new school for a higher level of education. I was overwhelmed for nearly the entire first semester since I did not reposition myself in a brand-new environment here at the University of Michigan. In other words, sometimes I had inaccurate positioning and impracticable expectations on myself. It is not uncommon that students can underestimate or overestimate their abilities because of several reasons. One of the most important reasons is that we have not adapted to do that thing and we neglect the degree of difficulty. For instance, although we have received many years of schooling, most of us are not very familiar with the requirements and criteria of college-level courses or graduate-level courses before we start. So If some students are good at taking examinations but not writing papers, they need to leave extr...