Lake Land College’s International Club is celebrating international students in a big way! International Education Week is from November 15-19. On Wednesday, November 17, the International club is hosting an International show and tell in Laker Point from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. At the show and tell, International Lake Land students will share material from their home countries and ask any questions that others may have. 

International Education Week is a chance to celebrate all international students studying at Lake Land College. There are currently students studying at LLC from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, South Korea, The Czech Republic, Australia, and Vietnam.

Kimberly Hunter, leader of LLC’s International Club stated the purpose of this week is  recognizing international students. “We celebrate and educate students about how many international students study in Lake Land. We highlight all the international students and where they are from,” says Hunter.

This week also helps educate non-international students about the struggles international students go through in order to receive an International education. After speaking with Mackayla Denney, these struggles became abundantly clear. Denney is an international student from Australia. In order for her to visit her family back home, she must endure a two-day-long plane ride. She stated that the meaning of International Week to her is helping others understand her story and recognize her feelings and struggles. 

Denney stated that, “International Education Month helps people who aren’t international understand how we are feeling, what we are going through, what is like and how hard it can be to be International. When Americans can understand that, they are able to see that it isn’t as easy as it seems because we are so far away from our families. For me, it means that people are going to learn how I am feeling and help them understand me a lot more.”

After just hearing one International Student’s story, the difficulty that these students go through became very apparent to me. If you are unsure of how to celebrate this week, speaking to an international student, understanding their story, and recognizing their feelings is an excellent start. Visit International Education Week 2021 | ECA (state.gov) for more information on International Education Week and how to celebrate during the week.