Coming To North America

Anandita Rantung (called Dita for short) was in the middle of her first semester as a college student. Because of Dita's superior academic achievement in her secondary school in Indonesia, she had been awarded a full scholarship by the Indonesian government to attend college in the United States. When Dita arrived from Jakarta just two months ago to study at a small liberal arts college in the Boston area, she couldn't have been happier. She was excited finally to be in the land of her dreams, the country where she was plan­ning to accomplish her goal of getting a B.A. degree in communications. Dita knew that it would not be easy to attend college in the United States; her English was still not perfect, and she would have to take several semesters of English courses to prepare her for her academic program. Also, she had lived in Jakarta all her life and had never been away from her family before, and she had many close friends that she would miss very much. Nevertheless, she was thrilled that she had been given this opportunity and was certain that she could overcome any barriers she might face. Dita was an optimis­tic and enthusiastic person with a strong sense of moral values. She welcomed challenges and maintained her sense of humor, no matter what happened.

Everything had started off well for Dita. She liked Sandra, her roommate from Chi­cago, and her academic counselor helped her to choose one academic course (Studio Art) that she could take along with her three English courses. She did have a bit of trouble with the food in the college cafeteria. It never tasted right to her. The food was too bland, and it was greasy compared to what she had eaten in Indonesia. No matter what she tried, none of it was delicious. She considered eating at the fast food restaurants in town, but Dita couldn't stand the hamburgers or chicken sandwiches either. Several weeks went by before Dita noticed that her clothes seemed loose, and she realized that she must have lost weight. But she wasn't really concerned. After all, being thin was what many young women wanted.

In terms of her academic work, Dita was not certain how she was doing. Her English classes were small, and the teachers were kind and patient. Yet Dita kept getting low grades on her quizzes, tests, and essays. The studio art class was also causing her trouble. Dita had always enjoyed drawing, so naturally she was pleased that she was taking the art course. Her only problem, though, was that the professor spoke so quickly that Dita could rarely understand what he was telling her. Dita hoped that her work was satisfac­tory, and she tried to listen carefully to the professor. Still, it was quite upsetting to her when during class in the third week of the semester, the professor told Dita that there had been a misunderstanding and her drawing was not what the professor had assigned.

In the fourth week of her semester, Dita began feeling extremely tired. She could hardly stay awake past ten o'clock at night, and in the morning, if she didn't hear her alarm, she would sleep until eleven or twelve. Since all her classes were in the afternoon, it didn't matter that much. Once her roommate asked her why she was sleepy all the time, but Dita said that it probably was because she had to study so hard. "My English classes take a lot of work, and maybe that's why I'm tired," she told Sandra.

Actually, Dita would have enjoyed going out more often and not just studying all the time, but nobody asked her to go places or do things. And she hadn't met any other Indonesian students yet. As for getting to know some American students, it wasn't that easy. One night when Sandra and two of her friends were talking in the room, Dita came over to listen and try to take part in the conversation. But when they began describing their sexual activities with their boyfriends, Dita got embarrassed and left the room. She just wasn't used to such frank talk about sex. Her friends had not talked like that in her country, and she didn't feel comfortable listening. Besides, she wasn't all that interested in discussing sexual relationships, especially since she hadn't had any.

Although her roommate continued to act quite friendly to Dita, after that, she rarely invited Dita to join her group of friends. Once in awhile Dita thought about asking Sandra if she could come along when they all went out to clubs or parties on the weekends, but she hesitated to be so bold.

"Maybe she'll realize that I am alone tonight and will say something," Dita frequently thought.

But Sandra was caught up in her own world, and she didn't pay much attention to her, except for one time when she invited Dita to dinner. During that dinner, Dita had tried to explain how lonely she was, but Sandra seemed unsympathetic.

"There are plenty of activities you could become involved in or clubs to join. And you just need to become more self-reliant," Sandra told Dita.

Dita smiled shyly. "I guess I still miss my friends and family," she confessed.

"Don't worry. You'll feel better soon," was Sandra's casual comment.

That evening was the last time Dita and Sandra went out together. In fact, Dita rarely left her room unless she had a class. She mostly lay on her bed writing letters to her friends at home. One day two weeks later, after Dita had spent the morning in a state of deep depression and loneliness, she decided that she would go to the advising center and get some suggestions about how to adjust better to her new life. However, when she called to make an appointment with the foreign student adviser, she was told to call back the next week because the adviser was on vacation and no one else could see her.

At that point, Dita began to cry. It occurred to her that maybe it wouldn't be all that bad for her to withdraw from school and return m Indonesia even though it would mean losing her scholarship. Her family and friends might consider her a failure for giving up the chance to get a degree from a college in the United States, but Dita didn't really care what other people would say. They weren't the ones who had to live all alone in a foreign country. She knew she had tried her best, and she was ready to call it quits. Her English wasn't improving anyway, she hated the food, and the weather was getting colder every day. Worst of all, she had no close friends, Indonesian or American, nor any other sources of support, so what was the use of trying to live in the States? It seemed to Dita that coming to North America had been a really bad decision.

1. Discussion points.

1. What kind of person is Dita? How would you describe her?

2. Why has she come to the USA?

3. How well has she been coping with her college life?

4. What specific problems is Dita having in adapting to American college life?

5. What kind of person is Sandra, Dita's roommate? How would you describe her?

6. What types of support does Dita's college offer to international students?

7. How important are friends in helping a student adjust to a new life?

8. What steps could Dita take to become more comfortable in the United States?

9. Have you ever been in a similar situation? Give details.