lby MEGAN NORTHCOTE
Intern Lifestyles Reporter

It seems like only yesterday when Meggy Meng watched a football practice for the first time.

For this Chinese exchange student, it really was just a few days ago when she got her first taste of American football at Appalachian State University.

But she is not alone.

Meng is one of 140 new international students the Appalachian community welcomed to campus this fall, according to the international Appalachian Web site.

Of these 140 new international students, a total of 60 are non-residents, twice the number of non-residents enrolled last fall at Appalachian, Natalie Best, assistant director for International Student and Scholar Services said.

Most international students flew into the Charlotte airport Aug. 17 and participated in a three-day orientation led by International Education and Development faculty. This orientation included everything from a tour of the school to familiarize students with available facilities and resources to help with obtaining the proper health insurance and filling out tax forms.

Participating in an exchange program between Appalachian’s Walker College of Business and China International Information Center, Meng hopes the business classes she is taking at Appalachian will teach her valuable skills that will further her position as director of the technology department for this Chinese corporation.  

Meng’s biggest challenge at Appalachian has been gaining better mastery of the English language.

“In China, I just write, just listen [to English],” Meng said.

All international students whose native language is not English are required to pass the Test Of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) English proficiency test before being admitted to the university.

For Meng, like many other international students on campus, the educational experience does not stop in the classroom.

“I want to taste all the restaurants here in Boone,” Meng said. “I love American food.”

Thanks to the international student faculty, Meng may come close to achieving this goal.

Best hopes to provide as many cultural opportunities to as many international students as possible.

This year, Best has organized an event called, “This, Too, is America,” a series of monthly trips and activities to places in and around Boone.

“While Boone is a wonderful place, it’s small, and we want [international students] to have opportunities to get out of Boone,” Best said.  “I want to make sure that they enjoy their time here… because I want them to leave with a positive view of America.”

Already 42 international students saw a baseball game and at least 28 international students signed up to visit Grandfather Mountain, Best said.

Yesterday, other students participated in a football 101 crash course taught by Appalachian’s football team. Plans for a trip to Washington, D.C. over fall break are in the works.

Edgar A. Zamora, a junior secondary math education major from Mexico, already feels right at home at Appalachian.

As head of the soccer team at Appalachian, Zamora feels like he has really had the opportunity to make lots of friends and assimilate well into American culture. From the time he was in second grade, Zamora received most of his education in America.

“I feel like I’ve grown a lot,” Zamora said. “I’ve come to know more about what I’m all about just because I’m American now.”

While at ease at Appalachian, Zamora can still detect cultural differences between Mexico and America.

“Mexico is more family-oriented,” Zamora said. “If you asked somebody [from Mexico] what their priorities are, right after religion, they’re going to say family.”

Although fully Americanized in many ways, Zamora has not lost sight of his roots.

“My dream is to one day teach math in Mexico,” Zamora said.

Other students such as Kimani Adam, a freshman international business and finance double major from Kenya, are still exploring life in America.

Adam came to Appalachian in January after his friends from Charlotte suggested he enroll.

“The personality here is quite nice,” Zamora said. “I think I am starting to get to that personality and it’s a wonderful personality to have. I think I am submitting… to that Appalachian atmosphere.”

Regardless of the reason for enrolling, Best has been told by many international students “how friendly and generous” they feel people are at Appalachian.

“I really think that when people study abroad they end up promoting a more peaceful world,” Best said. “I really believe in trying to help facilitate those kinds of exchanges.”

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