Suffolk University’s International Student Association is opening its doors to international and local students alike, creating a community of various cultures on campus.
There are several clubs on campus that offer a home for international students based upon their backgrounds, such as the Chinese Student Association or the SU Hispanic Association. SUISA, however, is not limited to one culture.
Suffolk has not seen an International Student Association for nearly five years, but SUISA’s members and executive board are excited to jump right in to give international students what they have been asking for.
“SUISA is not a club that pertains to any particular ethnic group… SUISA I feel represents a lot of different backgrounds of a lot of different people,” said SUISA member Hriday Maharaj, an international student from South Africa
The main point of SUISA for Maharaj is to have a community that isn’t particular to any culture or ethnic group, rather they all can come together as international students to support each other throughout their time in the United States. SUISA also strives to bring a piece of home to international students in Boston, said Maharaj.
“Personally, I miss home, I miss being with my parents, being with my culture but being in SUISA I feel like I can really get back to that with other students who are from South Africa and not only that but learn about other cultures as well,” said Maharaj.
For Nosihle Kunene, president of SUISA and international student from Swaziland, the demand for a community for international students was prominent to her, students and faculty alike.
“I didn’t know that an international students club didn’t even exist anymore,” said Kunene.
Kunene has many goals for the club but the most essential of those goals is “to make sure that international students have the full information. I want to try to open up this club for professionals who have been international students to help other international students with questions they may have.”
She spoke about wanting to get faculty to help international students with questions regarding their visas, lessons about cultural differences students may experience throughout their time in the U.S. and social networking events that will allow students to make friends and interact with other international students.
With these goals in mind, SUISA held its first official meeting to introduce itself to the campus Oct. 10.
“The first meeting was underwhelming, only about five other students showed up to the first meeting,” said Maharaj.
Kunene noted that their meeting time wasn’t ideal for all students, since it overlapped with many classes.
“We had over 60 people who signed up, but unfortunately the time slot we had chosen had restricted that,” said Kunene.
The SUISA meetings have been moved to 12:30-1:45 p.m. on Thursdays.
Kunene encouraged students who are not international to look into SUISA.
“This club isn’t only limited to international students, it’s open to all students, it can open up a lot of support from residents to international students,” Kunene said.
Maharaj received the same message from the club as he saw it as an opportunity for people who are not international students to learn more about different cultures, and to form connections that will help them in the long run.
