2008 Woodie Awards
Overcoming Obstacles: International students overcome obstacles to get to Texas Tech
Part 1 of a five-part series looking at the strugles and inspirations of international students at Tech
Matt McGowan
Issue date: 3/31/08 Section: News
For some, the road to Texas Tech is short and smooth. For others, it is long, winding and wrought with obstacles.
The university is home to tens of thousands of students, of which many came from other places in Texas or, at the very least, from somewhere within the U.S. borders.
There are those, however, who come to Tech from faraway places after years of dreaming about life as a Red Raider.
During 2007, according to statistics from Tech's Department of International Students and Scholar Services, more than 1,000 international students enrolled in the university, the vast majority of whom - 913 - were graduate students.
According to the statistics, a large proportion of Tech's international student population came to Lubbock from India, with 404 students, and China, with 195 students. Yet, 71 Red Raiders call Korea home, and 50 came from Taiwan. Other top nationalities are Mexico, Turkey, Nigeria, Canada, Nepal and Kenya.
It is no surprise many international students come to the United States, said Juan Munoz, special assistant on institutional diversity to the university's president, because the international community often considers U.S. universities to be the best.
"America has the best higher-education system in the world, bar none," he said. "Period."
Specifically what brings these multinational students to the university, however, presents an entirely different story, said Bob Crosier, director of international affairs at Tech. One of the more common reasons students travel thousands of miles to come to Tech is what Crosier called a "word-of-mouth kind of thing," meaning they hear about the university from personal friends, family members or colleagues back home who are familiar with the university.
Though Tech does not have any umbrella efforts to recruit these students, he said, many of the university's individual departments and offices often look beyond U.S. borders when they recruit.
"Because of that kind of pattern, the university's international student body is primarily graduate students, because that's where a lot of these efforts would be focused, on graduate students," Crosier said.
The university is home to tens of thousands of students, of which many came from other places in Texas or, at the very least, from somewhere within the U.S. borders.
There are those, however, who come to Tech from faraway places after years of dreaming about life as a Red Raider.
During 2007, according to statistics from Tech's Department of International Students and Scholar Services, more than 1,000 international students enrolled in the university, the vast majority of whom - 913 - were graduate students.
According to the statistics, a large proportion of Tech's international student population came to Lubbock from India, with 404 students, and China, with 195 students. Yet, 71 Red Raiders call Korea home, and 50 came from Taiwan. Other top nationalities are Mexico, Turkey, Nigeria, Canada, Nepal and Kenya.
It is no surprise many international students come to the United States, said Juan Munoz, special assistant on institutional diversity to the university's president, because the international community often considers U.S. universities to be the best.
"America has the best higher-education system in the world, bar none," he said. "Period."
Specifically what brings these multinational students to the university, however, presents an entirely different story, said Bob Crosier, director of international affairs at Tech. One of the more common reasons students travel thousands of miles to come to Tech is what Crosier called a "word-of-mouth kind of thing," meaning they hear about the university from personal friends, family members or colleagues back home who are familiar with the university.
Though Tech does not have any umbrella efforts to recruit these students, he said, many of the university's individual departments and offices often look beyond U.S. borders when they recruit.
"Because of that kind of pattern, the university's international student body is primarily graduate students, because that's where a lot of these efforts would be focused, on graduate students," Crosier said.
Disclaimer:
Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of The Daily Toreador, the department of Student Media or Texas Tech University. Student editors have the authority to make all online content decisions without censorship or advance approval and are solely responsible for the content of this Web site. None of the opinions expressed on this page are previewed by any university official. Any postings, SPAM or otherwise, considered by the editorial staff to be campaign endorsements for political candidates other than opinions of users attached to articles pertaining to election issues will be deleted immediately.
View the online policy here.
To report questionable content, send an email to dtonlineeditor@gmail.com
Be the first to comment on this story