Cultural immersion: Here's 3 of the hundreds of international students studying at Worcester colleges this year

WORCESTER — Leaving behind friends and family for any of the 4,125 undergraduate and graduate students attending Clark University this fall would be challenging. But for the 1,468 international students attending the school, it could be years before they return home again.

Whether to become an expert in their field of study before returning to their home country, or looking to make a life for themselves in a new country, thousands of international students chose to make the Central Massachusetts region their home this fall.

Out of the 350 international undergraduates students who were recently welcomed to the Worcester Polytechnic Institute campus this fall, 90 were making the journey for the first time. The College of the Holy Cross welcomed 125 international students this fall.

Assumption University welcomed 42 international students this year, both at the undergraduate and graduate level, or about 2% of the overall student population. Meanwhile Anna Maria College, which is still accepting international students, said it has so far welcomed 60 at the undergraduate and graduate level, mostly from Ghana.

At UMass Chan Medical School, students come from countries around the world including Japan, Nigeria, India, Columbia, as well as the first-ever student from Canada.

Three students, at varying levels of education and at different campuses, shared their stories of how they not only found their way to the Bay State, but what may lie ahead of them when they eventually graduate.

Ken Takahashi — College of the Holy Cross

A first-year student at College of the Holy Cross, Ken Takahashi is not only fulfilling his own dream by attending college in the United States, but his dad’s as well.

“My father wanted to do an MBA (Masters of Business Administration) in the United States, but ended up taking the job offer from Germany,” he said. “I always wanted to study in the United States…my dad wanted to study in the United States, so I just thought ‘Why don't I just go?’“

Born and raised in Germany, Takahashi eventually moved to Kyoto, Japan, his father’s hometown, where he has lived the last five years.

The plan, he said, was to play soccer at a college in the United States. He was even recruited by a few schools, but after stumbling across Holy Cross while looking at college rankings on U.S. News and World Report, he decided to reach out to take a chance and reach out to admissions.

He quickly revised his plan, applied for the school and got in.

“He was quite supportive,” Takahashi said about his father finding out he planned to attend Holy Cross.

And while he may not be playing for the school’s soccer team, he still plans to get involved in intramural or club soccer.

He said he had never been to the United States before moving to Worcester, but found it wasn’t too different from where he grew up in Germany. The weather is similar, he said, and the people are nice.

And he likes the campus itself, which he said was beautiful, although, “quite hilly.”

While he hasn’t decided on a major just yet, Takahashi said he has narrowed it down to two options — computer science and economics.

He has interest in both after taking some classes in high school, as well as getting in touch with both departments, and decided to use his first year as a way to take classes in both before settling on one.

Since moving in, he said, he has made friends through the international student group at the school and has already begun thinking about the things he’d like to do while in Massachusetts.

“I really want to go to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough and watch a football game and a soccer game there — that's something I'd like to do in the next few months,” Takahashi said. “I’d also like to volunteer in the city of Worcester.”

Philip Mawuenyega Soglo — UMass Chan Medical School

When Philip Mawuenyega Soglo eventually finishes his doctorate degree in biomedical science at UMass Chan Medical School, he hopes to not only return to his family in Ghana, but also be one step closer to curing neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s or Sanfilippo syndrome.

But as a first-year student in his program, it will be about eight years until that happens. So for now, Soglo will work on adjusting to his new home.

“The first culture shock for me was the weather,” Soglo said. “In Ghana it gets hot…but when I got to Boston, then to Worcester, the sun hit me so hard, I was like, ‘Wow that’s crazy.’“

Soglo, who is from the capital city Accra, found it tough and somewhat scary when he first moved to the United States, he said, as he had never visited the U.S. before.

But after meeting other international students and immigrants, especially others from Ghana, he has been “a lot better.” Having other people who can speak his language and understand the culture of his home country has brought him comfort, he said.

And for Soglo, while eight years is a long time, it will be worth it as he can take the knowledge from his research and contributions towards cures for neurodegenerative diseases back to Ghana.

He has always been interested in research and the human body, he said, and over time became interested in finding cures to neurodegenerative diseases. Before finding his way to Worcester, Soglo attended the University of Ghana.

While there, he received his bachelor’s in biochemistry and master’s in medical biochemistry.

“But there's not so much research going on in that field in Ghana,” he said. “And the U.S. has a stronger foundation in that research.”

He said that after researching the best schools to begin that research, he found UMass Chan Medical School to be the best.

“I came to Worcester to learn from the best,” Soglo said.

But when not occupied with the doctorate program, Soglo said he plans to sightsee and get to know the city of Worcester better.

“I want to at least go to a WooSox game because I’ve heard much about them,” he said. “And I want to use this long weekend to move around and see the beauties of Worcester.”

Rojina Sapkota — Clark University

When Rojina Sapkota, a second-year master’s in business analytics at Clark University, is feeling homesick for her native Nepal, she finds support at the school’s International Center.

“I can just visit the advisors here during office hours and talk with them about how I'm feeling and they would be there for you,” she said. “We have student affinity groups and they have resources there.”

Since she was coming from a culture where families are very tight-knit, she said, she found the move somewhat difficult.

Sapkota, who is from Kathmandu, had some cousins and a sibling living in Massachusetts who helped her with cultural changes her first few months, she said. But when she finally moved to Worcester for school, she began to feel the pressure of becoming an independent adult.

“Back home, it was all easy because my parents were there to support me — they took care of almost everything — and then I had to just worry about my personal stuff,” Sapkota said. “But here I had to take care of everything that I needed.”

From finding and moving into an apartment, to buying groceries and paying bills, as well as learning to move past differences with roommates, Sapkota found the learning curve steep.

But as she made friends with other students, especially other international students, she began to feel more comfortable in her new environment.

“I've been here for a year and I am loving everything about it,” she said.

She has come to love walking through the city’s parks, visiting the Worcester Art Museum and getting a meal at Momo Palace at the Worcester Public Market.

Traditionally, she said, people continue living with their families past the age of 18 in Nepal, she said. But because she comes from a “forward-thinking” family, she was supported to come to Worcester to get her degree and learn to become independent.

After she finishes her degree, Sapkota said, she does plan to move back to Nepal and take what she has learned about business analytics with her to help businesses in her home country.

She said she specifically chose Clark because of its curriculum, as well as the research and project opportunities available to her through professors.

“I would be really glad if I could go back home and then implement whatever I've learned here,” Sapkota said. “Any knowledge, any experience, any exposure to networks, move back home and establish something of my own because I want future generations to find opportunity where they are.”

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: 3 of hundreds of international students studying at Worcester colleges