UPDATED: Nov. 17 at 3:50 p.m.

About 20 percent of Syracuse University’s student body is composed of international students, according to Syracuse University enrollment data. International students experience SU through the lenses of their individual backgrounds. In light of International Education Week from Nov. 14 to Nov. 18, here are some of their stories.

Ally Moreo | Asst. Photo Editor

After his high school basketball practices in Kiev, Ukraine, Sami Al-Abed followed the same routine. He’d duck inside his car, drive home and return to his room for a night of studying and eating. When he left Kiev, his love of basketball was the only routine he carried to SU — but he also brought a desire for new experiences.

Although he had studied in an American school system in Kiev, the undeclared freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences was still hit with culture shock when he arrived at Shaw Hall. He couldn’t comprehend why people added “How’re you doing?” right after asking “What’s up?” It was strange to even interact with people after classes instead of going straight home.

“The community lifestyle is very different; here I have to actually talk to people,” Al-Abed said. But the community-based lifestyle that was once unsettling would soon grow on him, especially when he joined a club basketball team at the gym.

Al-Abed is the son of a Palestinian father and a Ukrainian mother, and the experiences of his Palestinian ancestors play a big part in his drive and devotion to an education in the United States. For U.S. residents, going to college is almost a natural step, he said. But things don’t work the same way in Ukraine.

“Back home not everybody goes to college. It’s a really huge opportunity for me to go to college in the United States,” Al-Abed said. “My parents really worked hard to be able to afford this experience for me, so I am putting in 100 percent to give back to my family.”

Al-Abed has built his Syracuse family in his basketball team, SU’s Slavic and Ukrainian clubs, and his girlfriend from back home in Ukraine — a sophomore in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

He has found a home in Syracuse, a college he took a risk in applying to. He had applied to several colleges in England, but Syracuse was the only one in America he applied to.

Said Al-Abed: “I made the decision to come here, and I don’t think I’ll regret it because this is a really great experience to be in.”

Ally Moreo | Asst. Photo Editor

When Saif Ali Mirza first came here from Islamabad, Pakistan in the fall of 2015, it wasn’t all smooth sailing.

“At the start, it was really hard adjusting to everything,” Mirza said. “I had a single (room), so I didn’t have that roommate I could become friends with.”

Mirza didn’t quite connect with his floormates, although he said he is an outgoing person. It seemed to him like all his floormates did was stay in their rooms.

“I miss all the late-night get-togethers I used to have with friends back home,” Mirza said.

All his friends and family were two oceans away, and Mirza now found it difficult to connect with people who had different interests from his.

“I’d just stay in my room,” Mirza said. “And it would be 5 or 6 p.m. in the evening here, so I couldn’t talk to anyone back home because they were all asleep.”

But Mirza soon came out of his shell over time, as he spent time with people he met in his classes, clubs and people from the same background.

“I started fitting in and feeling like I belong here,” Mirza said, who now draws no distinctions between his American friends and Pakistani friends. He hopes to rush a fraternity next semester, an experience not available in Pakistan.

“That bond that you develop with the brothers is definitely a different experience,” Mirza said. “It’s not something you have back home.”

Despite a rocky start, Mirza would gladly do it all over again.

“It’s a big change. But you soon get used to it and start liking it,” he said. “I wouldn’t change any of it.”

Ally Moreo | Asst. Photo Editor

When Yulia Safiulina touched down in the U.S. to pursue her education, participation grades, a lack of public transportation and American football were all alien concepts. But Syracuse wasn’t Safiulina’s first U.S. experience. At the age of 14, she left her home and family in Moscow to do two years of high school in San Diego.

“I was the only international student in the whole school,” said Safiulina. “It wasn’t diverse at all, so people there were very excited when I first came there.”

Excited as they were, Safiulina found it challenging to connect with those students because of the difference in language. Heightening her struggle was the distance between her home and school — she had to walk an hour and a half each way. And she did not have a car like many of her schoolmates.

After spending too many days waking up at 4 a.m. to make it to a 6 a.m. class., her parents bought her a car. That same Nissan sedan took her from San Diego to SU, where she is now a junior studying political science and psychology.

Even after two years in an American high school and university, Safiulina finds the U.S. system a strange one to navigate.

“In Russia … you go to same building, with the same teachers the whole 11 years. They were my people,” said Safiulina. “Here you pick classes and you have different people in different classes.”

For Safiulina, going from seeing the same faces at the same school to seeing new ones every day was a big change. The way Americans spoke and behave — more excited and emotional than Safiulina was used to — fascinated her.

“In Russia, if you have nothing to say, you just don’t say it,” she said. “Here, people say it even if they don’t have anything to say. In Russia, there’s no small talk.”

Although she misses her family, her city, and her cat Hector, Safiulina appreciates the opportunities SU has given her.

“I like college here more because not only do I get to see the American system, I also get to see international students because it’s a diverse place,” Safiulina said. “I wanted to get a different perspective and world views.”

Ally Moreo | Asst. Photo Editor

Sukhmeet Singh, a graduate student from Mumbai, India, fell in love with Syracuse’s promised snowfall even before he came to New York. But the snow was only one of many perks drawing Singh to SU.

“I’ve always wanted to live in New York,” Singh said. “People are very friendly and well-treated over here.”

Apart from the amiability of New York residents, Singh valued the benefits of an education at the School of Information Studies, which he said was the best in the U.S.

But Singh almost never finds time to enjoy New York beauty to the fullest. He juggles multiple responsibilities as an intern at the Blackstone Launchpad in Bird Library and a student supervisor for the Department of Public Safety. Coupled with his jobs are his studies as an information management major for a certificate of advanced studies in data science.

Packed as his schedule is, Singh appreciated the independence and freedom Syracuse has awarded him with being able to make his own decisions, big and small.

Singh does suffer from the occasional bout of homesickness; he hasn’t been home for a year and a half. But he said to gain something, one has to lose something.

“I’m from a metropolitan city, so you see people of hundred different religions, castes, languages, coming together,” Singh said. “Sometimes I miss that, but this has been good for me.”

Ally Moreo | Asst. Photo Editor

For Ph.D. student Clara Vesterman, her move from Israel in 2013 was accompanied by more than just a student visa and Frequent Flyer miles — she came with her 17-year old son and a hip disability.

The former Israeli foreign services diplomat was diagnosed with chronic hip dysplasia at the age of 35. But that didn’t stop the mother of two — her other son still lives in Israel — from wanting to continue her studies, and she began researching universities.

“I was looking for something that would combine my life experience, my knowledge and everything together,” Vesterman said. “I started to look for disabilities programs and I ended up here.”

Vesterman is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in education, teaching and leadership, along with disabilities studies.

SU’s Slutzker Center for International Services played a big part in alleviating Vesterman’s fears and giving her confidence a boost.

“I didn’t have to go to the international orientation and that was the time I realized that Syracuse University was the right place to choose because whatever difficulties I might meet, there will be a solution,” she said.

Leaving behind her other son, her support systems and family in Israel, Vesterman was unsure of how accommodating the campus would be. But Syracuse didn’t disappoint.

“I like the Syracuse history connected with disabilities,” Vesterman said. “This is one of the first places in the world accommodating people with disabilities and that’s why I’m here.”

Winters with her wheelchair challenged Vesterman, but she was mollified by the warmth of its residents.

“What struck me the most is when you open to door and people you don’t know just smile at you and say hi. I find that wonderful,” Vesterman said. Initially bewildered by strangers greeting her, Vesterman soon loved the general niceties around her.

“Having a disability here is easier than having a disability in other places,” Vesterman said. “More curb paths, more knobs on the door — but also more acceptance.”

Her loyalty to Syracuse has grown through her ties to the Slutzker Center and her experience meeting people of diverse cultures.

“I’ll be proud to be an SU alumna eventually,” Vesterman said.

CLARIFICATION: In a previous version of this article, The Daily Orange cited the Slutzker Center for International Services in reporting that 10 percent of the student body is made up of international students. But according to Syracuse University enrollment data, international students make up 20 percent of the student body. The story has been updated to reflect this data.

Published on November 16, 2016 at 1:46 am

Contact: dmurthy@syr.edu