Alumni Spotlight: Connect with UM Alums to Start Your Career

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 in thousands of municipal buildings in NYC. He honed quantitative and qualitative energy modelling skills and learned how to present complex results to senior executives. By referring to this experience as a success story, he demonstrated his proven track record. "A real-world experience is what employers usually look for, and students can use their internship/fellowship as a golden opportunity to demonstrate that."

"University of Michigan has one of the strongest alumni networks in the world." During his job searching, he connected with many UM alums, both American and international alums. He learned about their career path, company/organization, and skills that are most valued in his field. These connections were extremely valuable and helped him find and only focus on the positions that fit his interests and abilities. Especially for international students, it will be helpful for a better understanding of the rapidly-changing job market and help them best prepare for their ideal jobs.

Besides, term projects, Master’s projects, completing a thesis, and other program requirements are great ways to find your own passion and innate competencies. A term project can easily help you know if you like spending most of your time on computer models, or working with teams, or spending time in the field or even what topic most excites you.

Arman's biggest challenge has been navigating the work authorization process beyond the typical OPT and STEM OPT. International students have to keep this challenge in mind that after 1-3 years, they will most likely need visa sponsorship from their employer. "Discuss this with their employers as soon as possible," he advised.


Written by Yajie (Tina) Wang
Summer Orientation Peer Advisor
Graduate Student

Alumni Spotlight: Mengyang Liu’s NBA Dream Came True

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 connections he accumulated at NBA, after graduation, he found a job as the business developer in a marketing firm at LA. At the same time, he still covered the Los Angeles Lakers stories. The most precious reward he gained during his graduate study is the sports environment of Michigan, as well as the alumni network. When he moved to LA, he noticed the alumnus Moritz Wagner was selected by Lakers at the same time. Fortunately, he interviewed him as the first Chinese journalist.

However, Mengyang faced many other challenges during his work as an international student. The biggest difference he pointed out was the mindset. In the U.S., reporters are more proactive and believe that nothing is impossible. He had to change his mindset of always being polite and stretched out for more opportunities. Starting to put forward the request for an interview and video shooting, he finally got more chances to finish many great stories and videos.

When it comes to networking, he shared his own story of how he got the job at Nets. “The most important thing is to sell yourself and raise their interest in a short time. That is the key that they want to have more conversations with you.” Therefore, he just sent the email to the direct contact person to sell himself as the most appropriate person for the position. And thanks to that email, he continued his NBA journey in New York.

 

Written by Yajie (Tina) Wang

Summer Orientation Peer Advisor

Graduate Student

China

Outdoor Activites in and around Ann Arbor

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 peaceful oasis really close to the city. You can also indulge in activities like kayaking in the Huron River. 

The next one is Matthaei botanical gardens. It is a 300-acre property located in North East Ann Arbor. here you can find a conservatory, display gardens like bonsai garden, lakes garden and others and of course many hiking trails and natural beauty. It is often called “the best kept secret in Ann Arbor “and I highly recommend you explore it. 

In the heart of the city, is Main Street, one of the most fun streets in Ann Arbor. It has great restaurants and stores and is always bustling with life. You will enjoy its cosmopolitan culture, great food, and the M Den, which is a store where you can buy university merchandise. To explore Main Street is an adventure on its own! 

There are so many more things that can be done which I leave you to explore on your own. But don't forget that Ann Arbor is a short drive away from many cities like Detroit, Dearborn, Toledo etc. that you can plan day trips around and explore further. Feel free to explore the Zipline just outside of town, or the world’s largest Christmas store at Frankenmuth. And when you seek a thrill out of the boredom of university, a thrilling adventure awaits at Cedar Point, amazing amusement park. Explore world cuisine like Turkish tea, Mediterranean food, and make memories with your friends at Dearborn. Ann Arbor is truly a remarkable city with so many things to do and I am sure you will have a wonderful time here.   

Written by Diksha Agrawal

Summer Orientation Peer Advisor

Graduate Student

Nepal

My Experience of Volunteering Overseas and Reaching Out for Support

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 professors of each class to give me some suggestions, just as a trial. After having the lessons, I told them my story and the dilemma. Out of my expectation, they really provided me with many useful resources and ways to reach out for support. Over two weeks, I sent several emails to various departments in my school and tried to find some financial support. 

Furthermore, the most significant thing was the power they transmitted to me to pursue the dream and explore the world with courage.

Turning Point: Scholarship from School

The turning point was when I received the email form the Global Engagement Coordinator form School of Kinesiology, telling me that I can apply for the GoGlobal Travel Award. Besides, she provided me with many resources of financial support for education abroad experiences that I may turn to.

 

I applied for the award just before the deadline and received the success email one month later. I got the Block M flag for photography from my school before leaving. When I took the photo with the flag at the Main Media Center, I felt the power from the University of Michigan and was proud to be one of the students here. 

Always Be Proactive

To be honest, the scholarship was not a large amount. However, it just told me a success story of being proactive to reach out for help. Numerous resources are waiting for you to explore and utilize. The only thing you need to do is stretch out your arms to grasp each opportunity in your life. Never too early to reach out!

The first time I went to watch the football game at Big House, I totally had no idea why everyone was shouting ‘Go Blue’. But now, I have a deep understanding of the power of sports and the power of umich. Just Go Blue!

Written by Yajie (Tina) Wang

Summer Orientation Peer Advisor

Graduate Student

China

Summer 2020 of an International PhD Student

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 measures, but my supervisor has many ideas and pre-work done for theoretical studies. And here we all were, picking up suggested projects or finishing previous papers and working on them from home. Funny enough is that I am writing this on the next day after I submitted one of the papers we prepared for publication. A fight with the referees is ahead.

While working on these projects, I found an additional thing for myself to do. Despite experimental physics being my main research direction, I have been interested in making simulations and mathematical modeling for complex systems for quite a while. So, while scientists were trying to convince everyone about measures to “flatten the curve”, I wrote my own simulation for this process. Although a model is quite simple and considers just a certain number of objects (some being initially infected) randomly moving on a 2D plane of certain size, I indeed saw that social distancing helps to prevent fast virus spread even in such an elementary setup. I don’t show the actual data I obtained, but here you can see green paths of objects (people) moving around the city area painted in blue with red areas being infected. I even considered preparing a small paper with my results, but decided that there are enough speculations and arguments around. 

One might wonder how I dealt with the anxieties I mentioned above. Moreover, it can be surprising how one can spend time on modeling something such terrifying as virus spreading. Well, scientific curiosity… Other than that, I was spending time on my actual research and was trying to put my mind away from what was happening around by doing my hobbies such as reading. Also, regular short walks (while keeping social distance and wearing masks, obviously) helped not to feel like being put into some Swedish jail (check photos online, they actually look nice). 

Fortunately, labs opened at some point in June and we started to resurrect the lab. In some sense, we are still doing that, it is not an easy task (check out a photo of the setup I am working at, surrounded by Christmas lights). Every time I enter the physics department building, my temperature is checked, I get a sticker that says my temperature is checked on that day and I can finally go to the lab. There I disinfect all I need based on the safety protocol. Wearing a mask and gloves are required all the time, by the way. And the same disinfection needs to be done before I leave. We live during strange times indeed.

Written by Alisher Duspayev

Summer Orientation Peer Advisor

Graduate Student

Kazakhstan 

 

Life as a Married Graduate Student: How I Balance My Academic and Personal Life

 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 hassle-free. I believe it is very important that your partner fully understands the demands of graduate school (if they have not experienced it themselves) for them to fully support you in the best way they can. In my case, my partner went to graduate school himself and was therefore very familiar with a graduate student’s life.  

In the first two years of graduate school when I had to juggle classes, teaching, and research, giving sufficient time to my personal life was difficult. Again, the way I handled it was to have an honest conversation about it with my partner and reason it out that he would have to handle more of the household responsibilities than I. To make it more interesting, we had a deal that one day out of the week (usually a Sunday), I would take care of majority of the house chores and give him a little break! This served the purpose of focusing sufficiently on my work, helping out around the house and assuring my partner that I understand and acknowledge his support. During exam week(s), I would request my partner to take care of all chores until I am through exams and have some relaxed time on hand. Open communication in this regard, ensured that I would not have to compromise on my studies nor my relationship.

Today, as I am in the later stages of my PhD, with my primary focus being my dissertation research, I tried to redesign my personal life to better support my work. I make sure I contribute equally in taking care of the house as my partner also has a full-time job. Some of the ways we keep life well-balanced and fair are:

1. Assigning specific chores to each of us and allowing the other person to fulfil their chore-duty when they find the time. We have a spreadsheet that we maintain to keep track of chore-completion! This also keeps life more interesting, even when performing mundane tasks.

2. Taking small breaks over weekends to go out hiking, biking, or some other activity that the two of us equally enjoy. This may not happen every weekend due to work commitments for the both of us, but we try to make it happen as often as possible.

3. Assigning ‘movie night’ once (or sometimes twice) a week where we pick a movie we’d both enjoy and take out a couple of hours from our evenings to watch it together. I often view this break as a little ‘reward’, which keeps me motivated and makes me work extra hard at work to really enjoy this time I get to spend with my partner.

4. Picking some chores that we can do together. For example, we typically vacuum our apartment, sort through our old things that we would like to donate and go grocery shopping together. We easily spend several hours together like this and make these mundane activities more fun!

Ultimately, having a well-balanced personal and academic life as a married person depends a lot on how understanding and supportive your partner is of your career goals. If you and your partner are on the same page, you will lead a healthy and balanced life pretty much by default! I have always believed that one must never compromise on any domain of their lives, be it personal or professional. Restructuring life to accommodate all your life goals will certainly make the journey much more rewarding. I wish you all the very best as you embark on your new journey at the University of Michigan. Welcome and Go Blue!

Written by Gayatri Iyer

Summer Orientation Peer Advisor

Graduate Student

India

My Experience in Learning the Magic of Self-Soothing

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 temporarily, while it also brings love handles. After 'enjoying' my love handles for a while, I realized that it caused worse health. Initially, I wanted to relieve myself, while it results in another problem.

Luckily, I got one self-soothe guidance one day. A magic brochure that guides me to care about myself with FIVE senses. 

• Vision - Through your eyes, you feel relief. Whether it's an item you like, a movie you want to watch, or just looking at something you like. What I did mostly was looking at nature when I cycle on some trails.

• Hearing - There are so many beautiful sounds you can hear. Music/radio/stand-up comedy/your loved one's voice... 

• Smell - Do you remember what you feel when you smell breakfast in the early morning? Have you ever lit a candle when you read at night? Have you tried lotions with fragrance? For example, having some lavender lotion after shower before sleep could help me feel relieved after a busy day.

• Taste - There is no doubt that food is healing, while except comfort food. Try some decent food or try a new restaurant when you feel bad. It may surprise you and empower you.

• Touch - Pet your dog/cat. They are the cutest buddy that you can always feel happy with.

When I lie down on the floor, I use the sense of touch a lot. I could feel the temperature of the house and it made me feel present. Also, it gave me the confidence to continue my work. So by talking about my stress and how I handle them, I want to say that sometimes we just see difficulties/challenges as giant monsters while we are totally capable of doing it. The most important thing is that we have to prioritize ourselves, feel your feelings with your 5 senses, do something, and then gain the confidence to challenge it. 

Keep in mind the challenges that will change you in the end. Here is the magic brochure, I hope you all embark on a new journey at U-M. Go Blue!

Written by Tammy Wang

Summer Orientation Peer Advisor

Graduate Student

China

Apps That Will Help You out at Michigan

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 mandatory in order to log into your Michigan account. 

The next three apps are related to school work. The first one is the Canvas app. Canvas is the site that is used by the University for all their classes and the app will allow you to have access to everything in your classes as well as your grades. This is especially helpful when you need to check something for a class and it’s not the most convenient to take out your laptop. The next app is the MPrint app. This app easily allows you to use your phone to print your documents at any Michigan printer once you upload your documents to the MPrint website. It’s also quite helpful to have an app that can scan documents for you. Especially now that a lot of classes are remote it’s very likely that you’ll have to scan and upload a few documents. Personally I use an app called Scannable but there are other apps like Microsoft Office Lens, Adobe Scan and many more.

UM Magic Bus is also another useful app to have. This app shows you all the Blue Bus schedules, their routes and their bus stops. It also shows you real time locations of each bus and that way you always know where the busses are. In the beginning I avoided taking the busses at Michigan because I was afraid of the whole system as it seemed too complicated. I would suggest trying to figure out the bus system as early as possible. You could do it together with some friends or ask an upperclassmen how it works. The bus system becomes really helpful when it becomes too cold to be walking long distances or when you have to go for classes on North Campus. 

Lastly we have PayRange and Freshman 15. PayRange is an app that is used to do your laundry on campus. Instead of having to look for quarters whenever you need to do laundry, you can just load money onto the app and use that to pay for laundry. The Freshman 15 app shows you all the dining halls on campus, their operating hours as well as their menus for each meal throughout the day. 

Written by Matthew Wu

Summer Orientation Peer Advisor

Undergraduate Student

South Africa

Getting to Know the State of Michigan

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. Because of the latitude, the north part of Michigan will first see the change of the color, usually starting from late October. You can drive all the way north, crossing the magnificent Mackinac bridge, into the isolated and mysterious upper peninsula with breathtaking colors. There is no good language describing the view up there, you will have to see it for yourself. You can also take the ferry to see the Pictured Rock National Lakeshore. Thanks to the mineral sediment, the lakeshore has vivid color, not seen anywhere else. If you are a hard-core explorer, Isle Royal National Park would be a gem for you. A four-hour ferry journey to the island is only the beginning; with no restaurant or transportation, the island will be a true test of your braveness. 

Apart from the natural view, Michigan is rich in culture with many museums, such as Ann Arbor’s newly renovated Museum of Natural History (temporarily closed) featuring a state-of-art planetarium and dome theater where you can gaze into the universe. Michigan is also known as the center of American auto industry, with the headquarters of three major manufacturers located in the greater Detroit area. Ford, as the most renowned American auto manufacturer, has its headquarter located in Dearborn, along with the very famous Henry Ford museum. Inside the museum, you can learn the history of the auto industry and how American family life was transformed by the invention of the automobile. You can even take a tour of the Ford assembly line of F-150 pickup trucks. In addition, make sure you take a ride with the very first ford T-Type.

Michigan’s winter is long and cold. However, you do not have to be trapped inside rooms. There are many skiing resorts located in the state. Don’t worry if you never skied before; many resorts offer skiing lessons and skiing tracks with different difficulty levels. The biggest one is Nub’s Nob Ski Area, where you can also find lodging and restaurants. 

All we have talked about is only a tip of the iceberg compared to what you can do to fully enjoy every part of Michigan. A more comprehensive guide can be found by searching Pure Michigan. All in all, we hope you have a wonderful life here in the beautiful state of Michigan.

Written by Kehui Zhang

Summer Orientation Peer Advisor

Graduate Student

China

How I Got an On-Campus Job at the University of Michigan

    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 students trying to strengthen their resume and advisors who went around giving feedback. There were sample resumes and instructions spread around the table for the students to see. From this workshop, I learned how to order the various parts of my resume and how to write better bullet points. Back home, I solidified my resume by making sure my bullet points had ‘action,’ ‘context,’ and ‘result.’ 

    The next step I took was applying for jobs. I logged into the Student Employment Office website and searched for non-work study jobs. Deciding on the type of work and number of hours I wanted to perform helped me narrow down my search. Some jobs had requirements and qualifications that I couldn’t meet. I applied to about five jobs through the website, by answering a questionnaire about my skillset and attaching my resume. 

    After a few days, I received an email that offered me an interview. The employer gave me a few time options and materials that would help me prepare for the interview. A Google calendar invite was sent after we agreed on a time and place. During the interview, I was asked about my skillset, personality, and hardships that I experienced. I kept eye-contact and shared my stories honestly. I also asked questions about specific projects I would be responsible for and colleagues I would be working with. After the interview, I received an email regarding the last step of the hiring process, which was to send in a piece of design work that best represented my skills. I sent in something I created when I was a part of the Yearbook team and described the difficulties I overcame while making it. 

    My journey of searching for a job ended with an offer email in my inbox. With that, my on-campus job as a Marketing Manager at M-Lead began. My hours waver depending on the project I am working on each week. I get to see my work being showcased on our Instagram account and monthly newsletter. Our team has four people who have unique responsibilities. Having this job made me feel like I was making the most out of my college experience. I checked off another item on my list and that item has been helping me grow into a professional.

Written by Jasmine Kim

Summer Orientation Peer Advisor

Undergraduate Student

South Korea

Experience of Overcoming Culture Differences in the Classroom

 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?

1. 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. 

2. 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 remember the story my classmate shared with me about her master's study experience in Europe, where she met quite a lot of cultural shock. Apart from classmates and friends, we can also consult our advisors or professors. Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) also provides counseling support for students. Thus, I highly recommend you reach out for further help and tips when you feel trapped. 

3. Set small goals

To take the first step, we may just set several small goals for each difficulty. I planned to divide the readings into everyday tasks to avoid overloading. Meanwhile, I set up the goal of answering at least one question per class to overcome my fear of speaking in public. When it comes to presentations, I just practiced several times in advance and asked my members to give me some suggestions. Besides, I attended several workshops organized by the International Center or English Language Institute (ELI) to practice with other non-native speakers.

4. Follow the timetable you planned

A well-organized plan needs strong execution. As long as you take the first step and complete the first week’s schedule, everything will go much smoother. I faced the same situation as well, raising my hand hesitantly, answering questions in a low voice, and sometimes maybe making no sense. However, it is a sign of your first success! Please just insist on finishing your plans.

5. Be confident and take the risk

Last but not least, we need to be confident and try to take the risks that our trials bring to us. No pain no gain, and trust yourself. Although during the first semester I struggled a lot with the cultural differences in the classroom, especially when I faced peer pressure. I just followed the above steps and became a more confident international student today.

To transmit this power to you, I shared my experience here and hope you can take less time to overcome these difficulties.

Written by Yajie (Tina) Wang

Summer Orientation Peer Advisor

Graduate Student

China

Setting Goals and Managing Expectations when you Study in the U.S.

 "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 interesting topics from different schools. My thought at that moment was that everything would go smoothly and I would be great both in my academic life and my personal life. Did I achieve my goals? NO, not at all. I was totally lost. Even if I felt busy every day and there were so many moments of inspiration, new ideas and findings on my social media accounts every day. I was so lost.

    That is exactly what I experienced in my first term. From what I want to say is that being realistic is very important, knowing your ability, and finding your limitations as well. There is no doubt that study abroad is a big investment in ourselves. We should do everything we can to get the most out of our program. The priority to do it is finding your own pace, otherwise, it will become a disaster.

    How do we set goals? Step by Step. First, know your reason for studying abroad. What you want to acquire from it. Then, think about your academic goals, reaching out to your academic advisor and your program alumni. Try to develop a deeper understanding of something in your field when you graduate. Moreover, consider your future career in advance by reaching out to Career Centers and/or attend career fairs. Studying abroad is also a great experience to help you develop transferable skills such as cross-cultural communication, adaptability, problem-solving and etc. Do not forget it, you already made a step forward by making the decision to study in the U.S. Last but not least, see more of the world, immerse yourself in the U.S. You're here not only to study at the school but also to see the whole city, state, and country. Jump out of your comfort zone and engage more with the locals. We know that our time is limited and it will fly-by. I am not asking you to know every corner of AA or the U.S. While setting small goals like trying a new restaurant every week or going to a local event. You will find more interests and feel more included with this community then.

    Back to the previous question, can you change the world? Of course, you can!! You can totally change your own world by studying abroad. Try not to push yourself too hard, write your goals in a period of time such as weekly/monthly, revisit them often. You will make a difference!

Written by Tammy Wang

Summer Orientation Peer Advisor

Graduate Student

China

Inside Scoop on Places to study On-campus

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 only graduate students. Anyone is able to go in and study there. On certain floors there are areas where each person can study in their own little cubicle. The Ref room is also a popular space to study in Hatcher. It is a room filled with dozens of long tables and filled with complete silence.

The Union

The Union was newly renovated and since its reopening this January it has been an attraction to a lot of students. The reason for this is because the Union is made up of a lot of open spaces where students are able to study with friends and order food and coffee at the same time.

Michigan League

The Michigan League is the most aesthetically pleasing place to study on campus (in my opinion). The tables there are made from marble and if you are into modern architecture and clean looks then this is most definitely the study spot for you. The atmosphere here is conversational and just like the Union there is also food and drinks that you can buy inside.

Ross School of Business

Ross has study spaces on all floors. The interior of Ross is very open and spacious which creates a great studying atmosphere. Sunlight is able to come in easily so the lighting is always great. One thing to consider is that study spots here are usually hard to find. The Ross atmosphere is always conversational and a bonus is that there is a Starbucks directly inside!

Other

There are so many more locations that you will be able to explore and study at, once you get on campus. Some honourable mentions include The Fishbowl, the Law Library, various dorms, Victors and many more. Happy exploring!

Written by Matthew Wu

Summer Orientation Peer Advisor

Undergraduate Student

South Africa