I spent the summer before coming to the University of Michigan thinking about how I wanted my college experience to be like. There was going to be a big change in my life; I was going to a country across the globe on my own. Because I went to middle and high school with the same group of people, I didn’t remember how to make new friends. My ideas of what college would look like were based on Hollywood movies. All of these factors made me nervous and worried. Despite these emotions, I also felt excitement. Going to college in the United States was going to be a chance for me to turn a new page. I had the freedom to design my path and to grow into a person I want to be. That is why I spent my summer setting goals for myself.
One of the most important decisions I made was to not join a Korean student organization. It might not sound like a big deal but it meant several different things. It meant that I wouldn’t be able to easily be friends with people who speak the same language and have the same culture. I didn’t have an easy way out. This meant that I had to step out of my comfort zone to put myself out there and meet people in other ways.
After a chaotic move-in day, I sat in my dorm room. My room was all set up but I didn’t feel ready to start my college experience. I felt alone; there wasn’t a single person I knew in Ann Arbor because I didn’t meet other Korean students before coming to campus. I fell asleep after struggling with jet lag for hours. The next morning, the international orientation began and as a part of the orientation, I got to meet other international students in Alice Lloyd. They were from Hong Kong, Trinidad and Tobago, Kenya, South Africa, and Taiwan. Spending the day with them made me realize that I wasn’t the only one who felt lost. They too were alone in a foreign country and had to build new relationships. Finally understanding this gave me the confidence to reach out to people. I realized that I could either wait endlessly for someone to approach me or simply start a conversation with someone who is also facing a new beginning.
With this realization in mind, I went to information sessions for clubs and social events. I joined student organizations based on my interests, not my nationality. During classes and events, I introduced myself to others and started conversations. Soon enough, I was able to find students whom I had common ground with and wanted to get to know more. Now, after two years in college, I have friends all over the United States and all around the world. My Michigan family is multiracial, multinational, and multicultural.
Without the decision to not join a Korean student organization, I wouldn’t have had the motivation to proactively meet new people. I wouldn’t have built up the confidence to step out of my comfort zone. Most importantly, I wouldn’t have met friends who make me look from a different perspective and try new things from other cultures. That one small decision I made before coming to college shaped my experience at U of M.
Written by Jasmine Kim
Summer Orientation Peer Advisor
Undergraduate Student
South Korea
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