Spending the holidays abroad!

I used to feel homesick when I’d be traveling for two weeks, now I’ve been away from home for almost a year and I’m spending holidays away from home for the first time.

For someone that travels home regularly, travel restrictions and a global pandemic has definitely made this year different. But different doesn’t always have to mean bad, I still managed to make the best of celebrating holidays away from home. As an International Student, when you live so far from home, it’s easy to consider the friends you make abroad your family away from home. 

For Thanksgiving weekend, me and some of my best friends celebrated Thanksgiving at one of my good friends and her family’s beach house. All weekend I felt so thankful for my friends and the family we got to spend Thanksgiving with. It made me realize how lucky we are to get to experience a different culture and their hospitality. It was ultimately a great weekend where we got to enjoy some really good Thanksgiving food following a beautiful beach sunset. Spending a holiday away from home truly gives you the opportunity to experience cultural enrichment and a chance to learn more about a different culture and their traditions.

One of the best ways to cope with holidays away from home is knowing that you’re not alone, you’re probably not the only English, Australian, Brazilian or, in my case, Swedish person around Luckily, most of my friends are staying here in Santa Barbara, and it’s all of our first Christmas away from our family at home. It brings the excitement back with a sense of home and nostalgia knowing there are other people yearning to celebrate the same traditions. There are many other International Students in the same boat as you; far from home and feeling down or homesick around this time of year.

This year, me and one of my best friends are celebrating Christmas the traditional Swedish way. Growing up in Sweden, the julbord (translated to literally Christmas table) may look like any other buffet, but to us it’s a very important tradition to uphold. The table usually consists of a variety of pickled herring, cured salmon, meatballs, sausages and pork ribs. We’re also making Swedish Candy like Christmas toffee, and watching Donald Duck at 3pm as we always do in Sweden, so even if we’re not physically at home, we’ll still bring some of our traditions here which will hopefully make Christmas away from home more manageable.

Instead of getting the Christmas blues my advice when celebrating the holidays away from home is to try to uphold any traditions from home and (if you can) find friends to celebrate the holidays with. Not only is this a great way to make new friends, but also bond about being in the same situation. As much as I miss my family and home, I think this experience has taught me that even when we get homesick, there’s always a way of bringing home to your newfound home.

An international student's experience transitioning to online learning

8 AM lecture on Monday mornings always seemed like the worst part of the week, and all of the sudden having anything to walk to was the most exciting part of my day. The transition of going in-class to fully online in the Spring 2020 semester was tumultuous for me and the millions of college students having to go through the same experience due to Covid-19.

I was skeptical and anxious for the transition going strictly online, especially being an international student and being in such an uncertain state. But we all quickly learned that online classes were fully doable mostly because of our professors' hard work and creativity.

From my experience, SBCC did an amazing job transitioning to online learning, I think the transition was made within only a couple days. With the 5 classes I was enrolled in, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that all of my classes went online with little to no difficulty. The classes were structured better than I expected and the actual workload was pretty much the same as in-person. Group work was done in separate channels, and there were time-spots divided for each group.

Between my five classes, two were mandatory to attend through Zoom, one had lectures posted on YouTube and the other two were transitioned to fully online. I actively kept up with the two that had mandatory attendance in the beginning since we were listening to the lectures through Zoom, which made it easy to ask questions and interact with our classmates. Having so much freedom with structuring my classes was a pleasant surprise as this left more time to focus on studying and more flexibility when handing in assignments. Most of my professors’ office hours were extended significantly in order for them to be more available and flexible to respond to our questions and needs. I also felt like they were very encouraging and understanding if we had difficulties keeping up with the material.

Sunset in East Campus

Although, in the beginning I was struggling with successfully structuring my time-management to succeed. I quickly realized I had to set up a daily schedule and follow a strict timeline to be able to structure the online transition. Some of my most crucial tips that worked for me was to wake up at the same time every day, sit at a desk or table and take notes during class to make it feel like I was attending an in-class lecture. It helped to start early in the morning and to include personal activities during the week such as working out, groceries and hobbies. The most important part of succeeding in online school was definitely discipline and the hardest part was not getting caught up in distractive activities.

SBCC’s efforts to make the hit of the pandemic as pain free for their students as possible was proven successful, especially considering the title of top #10 Community Colleges in the nation. The professors acted quickly and effectively to the transition while the school provided ChromeBooks, hotspots and textbooks for those in need. SBCC Students, including myself, who were affected financially by the pandemic received relief grants to provide for food, housing and child care. On April 1st, SBCC Food Pantry remained open and was operating safely to hand out weekly bags of food to plenty of students including myself. After all their tireless efforts, SBCC was finally able to honor 1,736 Associate Degrees and Certificates at the end of the Spring Semester, and although we had to do a virtual commencement, it was so rewarding to finally graduate after such a tumultuous semester.

Allegra's volunteering experience with the SBCC food pantry!

Hi Guys! My name is Allegra Kabukapua Kalombo, I am 20 years old and I am an international student. I am originally from Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa, but I also lived in Belgium, Europe. I am currently a sophomore at SBCC. It is my third semester and I have three more semesters left. I am a Biological Sciences major right now and I want to be transferred to a 4-year university to study pharmacy. 

From the beginning of my journey here in Santa Barbara to now, a lot of things happened. One of the main things that I have been doing is organizing events for the Ambassadors program. The Ambassadors is a program that creates a space of confidence for local and international students on campus. The program does host multiple events on campus in order to bridge a connection between students. Within the program, we have people from different backgrounds and countries. I have been lucky to meet all of those beautiful people from different cultures. 

The ambassadors is not only a program that hosts events, it can also help you to find volunteering opportunities such as helping the food pantry distribution. The food pantry is part of the Center of Equity and Social Justice (CESJ) and is directed by Alondra Gonzalez. Thanks to the ambassadors’ program I have been able to volunteer and therefore help. 

Another great benefit of the food pantry is that I had the opportunity to help people. One of my greatest goals in life is to be able to help others. By joining the volunteering team, I realized how much I loved helping other people. While helping, we could discuss with the people that were coming. And, some other times we would even give advice to help. 

The greatest thing that I have gained from volunteering is family. We started out being unknown to each other. Then step by step we built a strong bond. We have seen each other the entire summer and even after the fall semester started. I met so many people there and I have enjoyed every laugh and fun times that we got. Throughout this pandemic situation, it can be hard to meet new people and have fun. But, thanks to the food pantry, my summer far from home was not that bad at all. We would meet once every week and that would be enough to highlight my week.

I have been very blessed to have the opportunity to volunteer at the food pantry distributions. It even helped me to apply for a job at the CESJ and was hired. If I could give an advice to people who are afraid to get out of their comfort zone, I would say “TRY”. You do not have to apply for the food pantry specifically, but if you have a chance anywhere else then go for it. I had an amazing experience and I am still enjoying it.

Lena's OPT (Optional Practical Training) Experience!

Hey guys! My name is Lena Nalchigar. I’m 23 years old and I moved to Santa Barbara around 3 years ago from my hometown in Sweden. After having finished 5 semesters at Santa Barbara City College, I received my Associate degree in Graphic Design and Photography and like most recent graduates, I wasn’t completely sure of what I wanted to do.

Studying abroad comes with plenty of exciting opportunities and possibilities. One of these is OPT (Optional Practical Training), which is basically a 12-month work permit to work in the United States after graduating from college. 

So, how do you apply for OPT? There are several steps in applying to OPT and a lot of paperwork to fill out. First, you need to fill out an OPT application and submit it to your college's International Student Services office. Your international advisor will provide you with a new I-20 and materials/checklist of what you will need to send to the USCIS. You will have 30 days from the date the OPT-endorsed I-20 was issued to send your application, or else you will be denied.

Graphic Design is a broad field and I chose to do my OPT before transferring to a 4-year institution. This allows me to gain hands on experience working alongside professionals in similar fields to get a glimpse of what my future work might look like and ultimately realize what I want to specialize in. Aside from this, many of the world’s biggest and most well-known companies have their headquarters here in the United States, so it is a great opportunity to gain work experience here. Finally, work experience is very helpful for growing your professional network. Learning about networking, strengths, weaknesses, what you’re good at and what kind of career you want to pursue and then ultimately, to deepen your knowledge and gain skills and experience in jobs that are related to your major.

There is a 90-day grace period from when the OPT officially starts to find a job, if you don’t find one during this time, your SEVIS is expired. In other words, you would have to go back home. Apply as early as you can - the earliest you can apply for your OPT is 90 days before graduation, but take into account the time that will take you to put your application together. Get all your forms in order beforehand so that when the day comes, you can just drop your application in the mailbox. Applying early is only about getting your EAD card (the physical Work Permit card required to be allowed to work in the U.S.) as soon as possible. Your OPT period start date—within 60 days of your graduation date—is completely up to you.

(Views from my new job in Santa Barbara)

When I applied for my OPT in February, I was told the process of receiving your EAD could take up to 4 months. In other words, I could be stuck in the US waiting for 4 months without being allowed to work. Luckily, I received my EAD in April. After receiving my card, my job hunt started. After almost 2 months of applying, I was hired at a Social Media Marketing Agency based in Santa Barbara. Right now at the agency, my responsibilities include helping clients with social media campaigns, creating ads, thinking of new and fresh content as well as monitoring our clients social media engagement. It is a very fun job and I learn something new every day. All the stress and hard work finally paid off, even when I thought It wouldn’t.

Looking back at the experience, there is nothing I would do differently. In a way, this is my first step into adulthood, and It has been a stressful, yet great and educational experience that I’ll never forget.

My Time Management and Staying Organized for Online Classes (Ruby Jia)

My name is Ruby Jia. I am an international student from China, Suzhou. This is my last semester at SBCC, so I only take a psychology class and a math class. But it is not an easy semester for me. I am facing all of my courses online for the first time. I wasn't used to it at first, especially for my math class. But my school life gradually got back on track when I started to manage my time and organize my schedule. Before the semester started, I decided to take an 8-week online psychology course. This class was very intense. Every week, I needed to finish a large amount of reading, discussions with my classmates, and quizzes. In addition to regular participation, I also had to write two papers and take a midterm seriously since they decide the majority of my grades. I had a lot of deadlines every week, plus two other jobs on campus, so I felt overwhelmed. 

But in the third week of the course, I began to find the regular pattern of the course. I planned ahead for myself what I need to do this week and next week, and wrote them down in my daily planner. I began to move ahead and never finished my homework on the same day as the deadline. I decided to start as soon as my instructor posted the homework. In this way, I had more time to progress, and the efficiency and quality are improved. I kept adjusting my schedule and I even made time for exercise every day. As this class was a little difficult for me, I finished the paper in advance so I could go to the writing center to revise my paper and contact my in-class tutor in psychology, who also gave me useful advice. In this way, I divided the reading and writing tasks of the psychology class into Monday and Wednesday, and the math study time into Tuesday and Thursday. Besides my schoolwork, I could easily handle my 19.5 hours of working time per week. 

When I finished my psychology class, I felt relieved. Not only because I only had one math class left, but also because I think my psychology class was done well. But it didn't last long. I received the news that the school was going to turn into fully online courses due to the influence of COVID-19. Although I have a difficult multivariable calculus math class that is not generally offered online, I decided not to be anxious and stay organized. Here are the things I am doing to fulfill my last class at SBCC perfectly.

I follow the pace and study the video uploaded by my professor carefully, as if I were in the classroom. Although the notes are all online, I still print them out and follow the professor to fill them out. Then, I staple them in order. This not only deepens my understanding and memory, but also makes it easier for me to organize and use when reviewing.

I pay close attention to the pipeline emails since there are instructions from professors on course information such as office hours, exam dates, and homework deadlines. I also check my email frequently to keep myself up to date with the latest news from COVID-19.

I make my weekly plans on my Google calendar. Because all my study and work is now online, I find it more useful to use Google calendar instead of a planner on paper. I added all my meetings, online classes, and training to my Google calendar. It always reminds me before the event starts, so I don't have to worry about missing something. As a math tutor on campus, it is convenient for me to have appointment slots on Google calendar for students to schedule tutor sessions with me.

I always use online resources. My math professor has his office hours only for our class during our regular class meeting time. So it is a good chance to interact with my professor, ask him questions, or even just be there and hear from my other classmates. I did some free online training about online meeting apps, such as Zoom and Pisces, which helped me adapt to the new teaching style more quickly. Although now I cannot go to campus, the campus resources are moved online. I can still get help from tutors in the writing center or math lab. I can still look up the academic journals I want from the library website. I can even check out a Chromebook and have access to campus WIFI, which helps me succeed. 

Last but not least, now everyone stays home for safety, but that doesn't mean I should sit in front of my computer all day. After working on my computer for an hour, I often get up and walk to give my eyes a rest. I also do some stretching at home to get some exercise. To stay healthy, I ensure daily intake of vegetables, fruits and proteins to increase resistance against COVID-19. During my break, I usually read my books, video chat with my family, and embroider cross stitch.

My experience is that I figured out my own learning style first and then made and organized a plan according to my style. Remember that although it is flexible to take online classes, we still need to do our work conscientiously. Being consistent and not procrastinating is the key to succeed in online classes.