More on Moving into a Dorm

An update to the last post on moving into a dormitory: Stay in touch with your international adviser!

Husam Naser, a U.S. Department of State YES and English Access alumnus from Yemen who will be joining a U.S. college later this month, just wrote that like most international students he received a booklet outlining some things that he could bring with him to the U.S. Most of the items were fairly basic because of airline luggage and weight limitations. Husam found his university's suggestion to bring an address book, the most unusual item on the list. With Facebook, Skype and other inexpensive ways to stay in touch and keep track of contacts, perhaps the address book isn't as useful as it was in the past. Still, the suggestion to bring an address book is a good reminder that international students should stay in touch with family and friends back home after the move-in!

Speaking of Facebook, Husam and a number of his classmates created a class of 2013 Facebook group. Husam reported that he felt "a lot of the students in the group seemed to prefer to have the university choose roommates for them, unless they knew some one in particular already. So I chose not to post that information, but instead I contacted the international student advisor about my situation as an international student." As an aside, it would be interesting to learn how many international students use "Class of 20xx" Facebook groups to organize their arrivals and programs before coming to the U.S. - a topic for another post or blogger, perhaps.

In the meantime, Husam noted that this year the holy month of Ramadhan falls around the time that many universities hold their international and new student orientations. He was a bit concerned about managing his the activities and his religious obligations. Husam was really pleased to learn that his university emailed him a few days ago asking about whether he observes Ramadhan and "what they can do for me to help me accommodate with the orientation activities." Nice touch! Kudos to his international student adviser!