Four Resources That Every International Graduate Student Should Be Familiar With

Pranamita Chakraborti

Tuesday, January 17, 2023
Pranamita Chakraborti, Graduate Admissions Ambassador, shares resources available at UNC Charlotte.

Being an international student comes with its own unique challenges. It isn’t just about moving across the globe to pursue higher education, it’s also about starting life from square one in a new country. What seemed evident to the citizens and residents here was hard for me to fathom when I first arrived in the U.S. a couple of years ago. The culture shock was more difficult for me to handle than I had expected. It wasn’t just about learning a new way of life.

As graduate students, it is of utmost importance that we have a good grip over our everyday lives. Obtaining tax verification documents, doing annual taxes, managing bank documents, getting into a new mobile network and phone number, a social security number, a state ID/driver’s license from the Department of Motor Vehicles, finding an apartment with a decent management company or landlord to live in, figuring out how to get around the city, dealing with food insecurity as a newcomer - all of this can be extremely daunting, but at the same time compulsory to be able to do. 

Fortunately, I had several resources available to me through UNC Charlotte that helped me navigate this process, some of which I have listed below.

1. International Student Associations - International students have several associations at UNC Charlotte that are grouped by countries/regions (in my case the Indian Students’ Organization- Triveni) that make this process much easier. They can offer assistance in picking you up from the airport, taking you to the bank to open an account and driving you to the local grocery store for initial shopping to get settled. In fact, they reach out to you even before you fly to provide information regarding apartment options suitable for students like us. Later on, there are virtual seminars on all the information relevant to us as international graduate students.

2. The Thomas L. Reynolds Center for Graduate Life and Learning (CGLL) - Offers orientation for new students and continued support for professional and personal development during your time as a student. There are several courses available in the Reynolds CGLL designed to help students with their career opportunities post-graduation as well as help them navigate graduate school. This comes in handy, especially for international students in terms of communication, networking, branding and marketing, academic integrity (which is different from other countries), developing writing skills essential for putting together a thesis, etc. There are courses like “Teaching at American Colleges and Universities: Perspectives for International Students' ' which also help international students aiming to be in academia in the U.S. after graduation.

Graduate Life Advocates pose outside of the Reynolds CGLL​

Graduate Life Advocates pose outside of the Reynolds CGLL
 

3. Counseling and Psychological Services - As an international student, being in graduate school can be quite intimidating at first, and the support I personally received from the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and Student Health Center in this regard was very helpful. This is an excellent resource for international students going through such a huge life transition. 

4. The International Student and Scholar Office (ISSO) -  The ISSO offers continued support to new and continuing students. Students can be a part of in-person events and social gatherings and informative seminars on topics like CPT, OPT, visa concerns, job interview preparations, summer internship opportunities etc. Their office is always open for us and they communicate as much as required to help us get through any difficulties we face.

Other than all this, there are numerous honor societies, graduate school departmental societies, gatherings and social events being held on campus all the time for graduate students (e.g. biweekly International Coffee Hour). As international students, events like this really help us in getting to know other students and not feel alone in the process of settling into a new country and new school.

I sincerely hope that any new international graduate student makes full use of all these resources available to them so that these concerns can take a backseat as they focus on achieving the academic success that they aim to.

Article Written by Pranamita Chakraborti
Pranamita Chakraborti serves as a Graduate Admissions Ambassador for the Ph.D. in Nanoscale Science program.

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