Lina Khomenok
Contributing Writer
An international student always has a huge burden of expectations that they carry around as they start their education outside of their home country: make your family proud, earn enough money to help your family, work as hard as possible to earn those straight As, and be involved on campus, especially with those leadership positions. However, just being an international student is such a hard job that it already should be celebrated, not necessarily through the awards and scholarships a student receives but rather by showcasing their experiences.
Csenge “Chenny” Nagy (C ‘27) is a student from Hungary who has been rapidly adjusting to the completely new culture of the U.S.A. and implementing the slogan of Sewanee into her life: to dwell together in unity! Committing to Sewanee felt overwhelming as it is a very small school, but she shared that she found a big support system among her friends as well as lots of new activities such as swimming classes, the Roberson project, and studying her 3rd language: Russian.
It should not come as a surprise that being an international student often takes a toll on the mental state of a person. Nagy admitted that it felt a little confusing as she is “in between, not a citizen but living here” while her loved ones are in a different country, precisely 5,091 miles away. “Home is not a short train ride away anymore,” she said, but it costs thousands of dollars to just make a roundtrip to see family for Christmas. Nevertheless, Nagy said that it is an adjustment that she can make work as Sewanee has now become her second home.
Although Sewanee accepts a fair amount of international students (though decreasing over the past few years – in the most recent freshman class only 12 students), each one faces a set of stereotypes based on their nationality. For Nagy, a student from Hungary, the stereotypes revolve around drinking vodka, smoking, and jokes about being hangry too. However, those are more or less small things Nagy just laughs about; there are also conversations about politics which, of course, are unsettling. “I can’t talk only about bad things, I have to mention the good ones, otherwise I would not be happy here,” Nagy explained. For her, it is important for people to understand that loving one’s country (culture, history, traditions) does not equal the acceptance of the political agenda of that country.
Nagy already looks ahead and admits she’d love to study abroad in England, Georgia, or Kazakhstan in her junior year. In her closing remarks, she gave a little piece of advice to international students which applies to students from the U.S.A. as well: “Don’t be afraid to be more open and try new things.”