Greenville University has doubled the number of international students in the year of 2020. Greenville received 60 new students from 23 countries outside the United States this fall, bringing the total number of international students to a record one hundred. The question is, however, how do these students hear about Greenville? Why do they want to travel overseas to study in Greenville out of all places? I interviewed several international students with these questions.
I asked Min Li, who is one of the Chinese students in our school, some of these questions. “I used to study in Boston, and I wanted to go to Northeastern University, but I didn’t get in. Then I just heard from the study abroad agency about this school, and they told me that Greenville University’s engineering major has a program with Washington University in St.Louis and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. I think this is a good opportunity for me to go to a good university, so I think this is the most important point that attracts me to Greenville University. This year is my second year here, and I hope I can successfully transfer to my favorite school next year, although I am not sure which school I prefer,” Li said.
The next interviewee is a Japanese student, Lisa Sato. I asked her about her experience and she stated, “I’ve always wanted to study in the United States. I have a Japanese friend who lives in St. Louis. My parents thought I was studying alone in such a faraway place; they thought they would feel more relieved if there were people I knew around. St. Louis is one of the most dangerous cities in the United States. I prefer a safe town to a dangerous big city like St. Louis. So when my friends introduced me to this school, I thought it was quite good in terms of safety. Because I believe one’s safety is still the most important when studying in a foreign country. Therefore, compared with other points, I think Greenville‘s safe environment is the best.”
In an interview with Chinese student Yinuo Chen, he said, “I had planned to go to a school in Boston at first, but I applied for a visa three times and failed. My father’s friend introduced me to this school when I was planning to continue my studies in China instead of studying abroad. My father persuaded me to try again, and this time I successfully got a student visa, so I began to learn about this school. I was born in a Christian family, and GU is also a Christian University. I think I can learn a lot about faith here, which can help me strengthen my faith. I think that’s what attracted me to GU.”
I believe that every international student has their own preference and reason for why they choose Greenville. I hope in future years our school can continue to develop and attract more international students and make the culture of GU more diversified.
