University of Michigan International Center

Arman Golrokhian, Iran Class of 2017, Dual Masters Degrees in Public Policy and Natural Resources Senior Strategist at DTE Energy's Renewable Energy Solutions team "I would highly encourage international students to connect with UM alums, especially with those whom they have most in common, and learn about their career path. What it took for them to secure their jobs, what skills are most valued in their field of study these days, and many more similar questions." Born and raised in Shiraz, Iran, Arman Golrokhian Arman studied mechanical engineering at Sharif University in Iran before he came to the U.S in 2013 to pursue his graduate studies at the University of Michigan. After one year of course here, he was selected as an Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) Climate Corps Fellow, a very competitive national fellowship in the field of energy and sustainability. At EDF, Arman worked with the City of New York and developed a strategic framework to model and manage energy use i...

Mengyang Liu, China Class of 2018, M.S. Sports Management Manager, Chinese Social Media & Partnership at Brooklyn Nets ”International student identity can be a strength rather than a weakness. You have the unique resources and experience from your home country.”  Mengyang completed his undergraduate in China with a bachelor's degree in International Business. To pursue his sports dream, he applied to the University of Michigan for further study. He started his on-campus job as a RecSports staff and tried to find a summer intern after one-year’s study. After interviewing with a NBA team for several rounds, he was told he did not get the job. At that moment, he decided to go back to China and then found a shadowing opportunity to work as a frontline sports reporter in Beijing. That experience opened the door of the NBA for him. Later, he got the opportunity to cover the  Detroit Piston as a Chinese reporter for Tencent during his second year at Michigan. Thanks to the connec...

Although it is a small city, Ann Arbor has a lot of things you can do at your leisure. I am going to focus primarily on the outdoor activities one can do at Ann Arbor. The first thing one should do in Ann Arbor is to explore our own campus. The University of Michigan has a beautiful campus spread out along Ann Arbor with its many buildings, yards, and statues, which is a world on its own and deserves to be explored. The most iconic landmarks are the Michigan stadium and the law quadrangle. The law quadrangle is a part of Michigan law school and also houses its iconic library. It is located in the heart of the central campus. Its Gothic architecture rivals Ivy League schools and gives you a sense of going back in time. So, it's a place not to miss.  The Nichols Arboretum is another extremely popular Ann Arbor attraction that you can explore. It is located right by the Medical Center and the Huron River runs right through it. It has gardens and hiking trails and is an extremely peace...

Hitting the rewind button, let us turn back to November 2019. In my first semester at umich, I received the offer of my second Olympic volunteer journey in Lausanne, Switzerland. Instead of being excited, I was facing a real financial problem. The volunteer opportunity is appealing, but I needed to pay for flights and accommodations on my own for more than two weeks. To Go or Not To Go My last Olympic journey in South Korea was a shining memory; however, it was fading away. The opportunity to explore a new city and meet interesting people in the sports industry definitely became extremely attractive to me at that time. While I must calm down to calculate how much I am going to spend on it. As you may already know, Switzerland rates as the most expensive country in the world to visit; not to mention that I need to stay for more than two weeks.  “To go or not to go”, I was stuck in a quagmire at that moment. Start to Reach Out Adopting a positive attitude, I decided to ask my profess...

I had switched research groups in March and was still on the probation period in the new group when we received the news that the labs will be shut down for an unknown time period. I was not much concerned about progress towards my degree, as I am not close to graduation. But those who were about to graduate or were finishing work for theses were certainly affected.  Obviously, the COVID-19 pandemic had a huge destructive effect on all aspects of life. As an international student in these circumstances, I got worried about my family back home, health safety around, research for my PhD degree and the economy of both the USA and my home country. Summer of 2020 caught me with these things in mind. Research supervisors can be different, but I consider myself extremely lucky with the one that I have. Not only he is great in communicating with students, but also he is not constrained to experimental physics only. All experimental research work experienced a huge hit by the quarantine mea...

  Finding a sound balance between our professional and personal life is by far one of the most challenging things to accomplish. Where you are a college student, graduate student, or working in the corporate or academic realm, it is imperative to find that “sweet spot” of an ideal balance between home and work to ensure success in both domains.  For some of us, balancing work and personal life may not be terribly challenging, depending on our responsibilities in either area. For someone like myself who joined graduate school after getting married, designing my graduate school life and personal life in a way that does not overwhelm me requires more conscious efforts.  One of the first things I did when I decided to join graduate school is have a detailed discussion about my goals and aspirations with my partner. Ensuring that my partner and I are on the same page regarding certain added responsibilities and redesigning our lives made the onward path a lot smoother and hass...

Lie down on the floor and play "Snow Angel" in this hot summer. This is exactly what I must do every time before the 2020 summer Peer to Peer sessions. You may feel confused about why did that, or was that something we as student peer advisors must have to do before the meeting, something like a magical passcode?  50% correct! That was my passcode to be ready to see all of you! When I am faced with difficulties/ uncertainties/ challenges, I will be stressed and lose my mind. So that's the reason why I did the 'Snow Angel' before the live presentation. I admit that I may look odd, but it's a good way for helping me let the stress out. It sounds fun, doesn't it? However, when I recall my self-soothing progress, it took me a long time to find some fun and healthy way.  At the very beginning, I relied on comfort food a lot. We know that these types of food such as cookies/cakes/ice cream contain high calories. Certainly, eating comfort food could make me happy...

Throughout your time here at Michigan, you will slowly start finding apps that are helpful and make your life much easier. Well, what if you know about all these apps before you even come on campus? In this blog, I will be talking about some useful applications that can be downloaded onto your phone that will most definitely help out your time at Michigan. The first app is the official University of Michigan app , and being a Wolverine, this is a must have app! This app keeps you updated on announcements, events happening at Michigan and Michigan news. It also shows all the dining halls and recreational sport centers offered on campus (This is particularly helpful if you are new on campus since you won’t know where everything is in the beginning as well as their names). You will also be able to search for bus stops, building names and the names and information of people in the Michigan community. I would also recommend getting the Duo Security app as Two-Factor Authentication is now m...

Welcome to Michigan, a great state full of wonders and inspiration.  Michigan is located in central United States and shares the border with Canada. The name “Michigan” comes from Native American language, which means “large lake”. Truth be told, Michigan is surrounded by four of the five great lakes. A fun fact is that the total length of the lakeshore of Michigan is longer than the length of the west coast of the Pacific Ocean.  With brooks, rivers and lakes scattering all over Michigan, the best outdoor activity a Michigander suggests might be canoeing or kayaking.  If you live near Ann Arbor, the easiest way to enjoy canoeing is through Gallup Park , where canoes and kayaks can be rented. They offer service taking you and your kayak upstream of the Huron river so you can float along with the current to enjoy the stunning view. Make sure you do that in summer since the water in fall and winter might be too cold. Michigan is also famous for its beautiful fall foliage. B...

     After a semester at the University of Michigan, I felt like I settled down. I finally got used to being in a new environment. I checked off most of the goals I had for my first year at college: take interesting classes, join student organizations, make friends from different countries, and try out new activities. However, I felt like I could be doing something more. That is when I realized that I could find a job on campus and start my work experience.      The first thing I did to begin my journey of finding a job was writing a resume. I’ve never actually worked before coming to college, so the only items I could talk about were extracurricular activities. I started to jot down a list of clubs I were a part of during high school. Then, I elaborated on how I contributed to the club and if I had any leadership positions. After writing a draft of my resume, I took it to a resume workshop hosted by the University Career Center . The room was filled with s...

  I can still remember my first class at umich, having a lecture taught in my second language and struggling with whether I should raise my hand to participate in the discussion. The situation stayed terrible in the following weeks, especially when I tried to finish all the readings on time and complete a presentation with group members. So, what should I do to jump out of this vicious cycle? Calm down and figure out problems It is quite common to experience frustration when students are in a new academic environment. Therefore, I just kept telling myself to calm down and try to be more positive. Instead of panicking, it will be helpful to initially figure out all the differences and difficulties. I found the top three problems for me can be reading overload, fear of discussion, and public presentations.  Reach out for help if you need it In my story, I really appreciated the classmates who listened to my confusion and gave me the power to face these difficulties. I can still ...

  "I want to pursue a master's degree in the U.S." "What else? Give me other solid reasons. If it’s just for a master's degree, you can also get one in China."       Are you familiar with this kind of conversation? I believe that most of you as international students must have experienced it before you decide to study abroad. So, why are you studying abroad? Did you want to pursue a degree? Enrich your life experience? See more of the world? Get a decent job after graduation? Immigrate to the U.S. if possible? Or even change the world?      For most of us, this will be our first time studying abroad. Take me as an example, I haven't even left my country before. It was so hard for me to have a brief picture of how life is going to be like here in AA. With a "big" ambition and fearless bravery, I started my graduate school with a packed calendar of courses, events, and seminars. 4 major courses, countless meetings and social events, seminars of i...

There are many beautiful places to study on campus; but it definitely takes time to find them, explore them and pick the ones that are most suitable. I would encourage everyone to explore and experience all these unique places for themselves as each place has something different to offer. After a year of exploring and studying at these various locations, these are some of the things I am able to share with you. Shapiro Undergraduate Library This library is better known as the Ugli. The first floor and the basement are the noisy floors. If you decide to study on these floors you will be able to talk freely and are definitely suited better for people who work with noise in the background. The second, third and fourth floors are the quiet floors. You will still be able to talk on these floors but conversations are usually kept in whispers. These floors accommodate those who study better in silence. Hatcher Graduate Library Even though this is the graduate library it is not only limited to...