A graduate student from India experiences his first days in the United States

Photos and audio by Elio Pajares, family photos courtesy of Gattumeedhi, produced by Matt Fields-Johnson

story by Josh Morre

When Siham Ziani arrived on campus last fall, she realized she forgot two important things — sheets and pillows.

But unlike most students, she couldn’t call her parents or drive to the store.

Ziani is from Rabat, Morocco.

International Student and Scholar Services and Housing and Residence Life are working together to help international students avoid that situation in the future.

International students often arrive in the middle of the night after a long plane ride, said Beth Murphy, an ISSS coordinator.

There’s typically not a shuttle running, so students have few options to get food or things they forgot, she said.

“They’re really stuck,” she said. “They just need something to get them through the first 48 hours.”

Ziani had someone take her to Wal-Mart to get the things she needed.

But not all students can find a ride to the store right away, said Bethany Ore, ISSS international adviser.

ISSS is developing an e-mail series that will help future international students prepare for their arrival, she said.

The weekly e-mail will include information about how to pre-order items such as bed sheets, towels and toiletries through the University Bookstore, Ore said.

Those things would be at Western when students arrive, she said.

HRL Director Brian Kuster said he would like to give international students that live in the dorms a welcome packet with things to get through the first night.

It might include things such as toiletries, bed sheets and snacks, Kuster said.

Murphy said she knew a few students this semester that didn’t bring sheets, pillows or a heavy coat.

The students didn’t realize how cold Kentucky’s weather can be, she said.

Shashank Reddy Gattumeedhi said he didn’t forget anything when he made the trip from his hometown of Hyderabad, India, to Western last week.

But things like blankets took up so much room in his luggage that he couldn’t bring items from home, like rice, he said.

Rice that you buy in the store in America tastes differently than the rice in India, Gattumeedhi said.

He got to Bowling Green late last Thursday night.

He said he left his wife and parents back home in Hyderabad, India, to further his education in America.

Gattumeedhi, who has been a dentist in India since 2006, is getting his master’s  degree in health care administration.

He called his family after he got settled in to tell them that everything was okay, he said.

He told them about the dusting of snow that covered campus last Friday.

“We don’t have this climate,” Gattumeedhi said. “Here it’s something totally different.”

But he didn’t tell them that the sudden snow and fog caused his throat to hurt, he said.

He only tells his family the good things so they won’t worry, he said.

About 170 to 200 international students come to Western each fall, Murphy said. About 70 to 100 come each spring semester.

Students generally arrive a week before classes start, she said.

They attend an orientation day with sessions on culture shock, classroom etiquette and other relevant issues, Murphy said.

Those sessions in the fall are followed by a picnic at the president’s house so students can get to know each other and Western’s administration, she said.

Gattumeedhi said he has felt a little homesick since he arrived.

He said his mind keeps drifting back to India because he hasn’t started classes yet.

“When I think of my wife, friends and family, I feel it was the wrong decision,” he said.

But he and his wife knew he had no other choice for a better education, he said.

“She feels proud that I’m in the United States and she misses me,” Gattumeedhi said.

ISSS helped him find a place to live and sent a person to pick him up from the airport, he said.

Having two Indian roommates has helped Gattumeedhi.

They are busy, but have helped him settle in, he said.

They have also introduced him to other students from India through the Indian Student Association, he said.

“The Indian Student Association have welcomed me,” Gattumeedhi said. “So we feel very happy and proud to be Indian because we Indians are getting together to help one another.”

Shashank Reddy Gattumeedhi arrived from India this week to get a masters degree in health care administration at Western. photo by Elio Pajares