Being an international student at Trinity University has not been at all that easy. Coming from a completely different setting with completely different ways and customs has been a challenge in itself. I am an International student from a country in East Africa called Tanzania; it’s a country with the highest peak in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro. I have lived all my life in Tanzania and this is the first time that I have ventured out of Africa. The major costs that come about venturing out and seeing new things are “cultural shock” and jet lag.  Cultural shock is the shock that a person living in a different and unknown social environment feels. Cultural shock can consist of feelings of anxiety, surprise, confusion and disorientation that come about when people have to operate within that unknown and foreign environment. Similarly jet lag is the fatigue, feeling of tiredness and sleeplessness that comes about when someone has travelled long distances in a plane. This can major effects upon the person and most of the time it disrupts the person’s daily actions.

         For many international students at Trinity, cultural shock was felt at the beginning when they were trying to fit in with the Trinity’s environment. Most of us were shocked at the diet of the Americans, the food was a major shock and it made most of us long for “home” food. The food was fattening and most of it was fried, whereas most of the food that we eat back home is healthier. This made some of us dislike it at the beginning, but gradually; we adjusted to it and everything else including the social life, the clothing (wearing pajamas to class) and the way in which things are run in Texas.

            However, one of the things that made this adjustment easier was the fact that all international students were required to take an international class. In the class, we learned everything that we were supposed to know and were assured that cultural shock is a natural and normal process that most people go through when confronted with a different setting. On top of that the International committee always offers receptions and dinners for us, all of which make the transition all the more easier and worthwhile. Although, the diversity on campus has been growing, it’s been a rigorous, yet joyful journey for all the international students.