Imagine travelling to a new country, integrating yourself into a new community, and becoming acquainted with a polarizing culture. When Hoang Bui, ’15, an international relations major from Vietnam, chose to attend Saint Anselm College, he was interested in pursuing an American education, but was unprepared for the difficulties he would encounter from the school administration.

   “I always wanted to go to college in the United States because of the liberal arts system that allows you a lot more freedom in choosing what you study versus in Vietnam, where you must choose your major right away and where the focus isn’t placed on individual development,” Bui said.
Arriving at the college, however, was a different experience than expected. “The Transitions program offered through the Multicultural Center was good in helping bridge the adjustment; in orientation, however, I was often left with a lot of anxiety,” Bui said. He attributes that anxiety to the language barrier and his fears that other students could not understand him.
“American kids are a lot more individualized and independent, and if you don’t understand that right away it might feel hard to fit in. Vietnam is just really different, although I can’t explain how,” Bui said.
To overcome this complexity, which Bui dealt with through meeting and socializing with a large variety of students, Bui developed the Vietnam Students Association (VSA) his sophomore year to help aid other international students making the difficult transition.
“VSA started mainly because there is a small number of international students on campus, and we wanted somewhere to gather and show other students we exist. We also wanted to spread and share our culture. Saint Anselm is mostly white so our goal was to introduce a level of cultural diversity,” Bui said.
Currently there are seven students from Vietnam attending Saint Anselm, making them the largest international group on campus.
VSA also allowed Bui a platform to voice some of the major difficulties he and other international students have experienced at Saint Anselm.
“In my opinion,” Bui said, “international students have to try twice as hard as American students and still might not get the same results. International students are unable to study abroad because, unlike the American students, the school does not offer financial aid to international students who are interested in studying abroad. Career Services is also less helpful, and often times international students are forced to look for jobs on their own.”
Yet Bui’s biggest criticism comes from his experience with the Office of Residential Life. After earning a summer internship with a reputable law firm, Bui was left with a week between when his internship started and final exams ended. Bui was forced to go through multiple different avenues before anyone even offered to assist in helping him find a place to stay for a few days.
“If your flight home leaves two days after the school closes, Res Life will kick you out,” Bui said. “As international students we think of Saint Anselm as our home, but we aren’t able to stay on campus even for a few extra days. It has become a frustrating process.”
However, Bui is quick to assert his love and appreciation for the Anselmian community despite the challenges he has faced.
“The classroom and campus experience have both been really positive,” Bui said.