Suki Mwendwa, who is finishing her dissertation for a Ph.D. in architecture at Berkeley, teaches design at the University of Nairobi. When her students ask her about studying in the United States, here is the advice she gives them, advice we find useful for just about anybody:
1. It’s okay to be in crisis. The very act of traveling means to open yourself up to new experiences. So Mwendwa simply goes into “crisis mode” when she leaves home, meaning she’s ready for anything.
Paradoxically, she honed those crisis skills at home. Life in a developing country makes you ready for anything.
“We deal with chaos all the time,” she says with a laugh, which gives you an idea of how comfortable she is with chaos. “We’re always dealing with the unexpected. Tomorrow we may not have lights. Today we have no water. We live with that. This is today’s problem: let’s solve it.”
Good advice for graduate school, which can seem like a foreign country at times.
2. Find someone to talk you through graduate school. There’s enough reading to do just keeping up with your studies. Find someone—a staff member in your department, in the Graduate Division, or at Services for International Students and Scholars (SISS) or a more experienced graduate student—who can talk to you about the administrative things you have to keep up with in graduate school. This will be especially helpful, Mwendwa points out, if you are from a culture with an oral tradition, or, as she puts it, a talking rather than a reading culture.
3. If you don’t understand something, ask. “When you’re a foreigner here, you don’t think you have permission to ask,” Mwendwa says. “You think everybody should know, so asking is very difficult.”
You could easily substitute “graduate student” for “foreigner”; after all, how many graduate students assume everybody knows what’s going on but them? And Berkeley itself isn’t exactly the kind of place that volunteers information; the assumption seems to be that you know something unless you ask.
4. Know why you’re here. Before you come to Berkeley, ask yourself why you’re going and what you want to accomplish.
“Unless you have something to make reference to, as soon as you land here you will go crazy,” says Mwendwa. “You just get overwhelmed. Whenever that happens, reflect back on why you came.”
Campus, Community Resources
International graduate students—and any student wanting a dose of international culture—may find the following resources useful:
• The Centre, sponsored by the University Section Club’s Foreign Student Committee, is a group of faculty wives and community women dedicated to helping international students adjust to the Berkeley environment; the group is especially helpful for the spouses and families of international students. The Centre meets every Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to noon at the University YWCA, 2600 Bancroft Way. Each meeting includes a special presentation on anything from where to go on a family outing to what to expect on American holidays. But perhaps most importantly, the Centre offers a gathering spot, refreshments, a play area for children, and a chance to meet and talk with other international families and members of the Berkeley community. Volunteers are welcome. For more information, contact Grace Kobayashi (526-4205), Sylvia Rock (649-8236), or Julie Lauridsen (376-1613). The Centre’s Web site (www.geocities.com/CollegePark /Library/9509/index.htm) has tips on shopping, things to do with children, night life, and even recipes. (Our favorite bit of advice is this on driving: “You must stop at EVERY stop sign.”)
• The Centre operates an Equipment Loan Center, where, for a small fee, international students and scholars can borrow household necessities such as cooking pots, dishes, and bedding, considerably cutting down on the expense of setting up a temporary household. For more information, contact Kathy Graburn (845-1537) or Linda Wei (524-0414).
• English language classes include courses offered by Berkeley Summer Sessions (642-5611), Berkeley Extension (642-9833), the Albany Adult School (559-6580), and the English in Action program of the University YWCA, which also welcomes English-speaking volunteers (843-9716). For a full listing, pick up the “English Language Programs” flyer outside the Services for International Students and Scholars (SISS) office in International House.
• The Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) Teaching and Resource Center, located at 301 Sproul Hall, provides orientations, workshops, grants, awards, consultations, and resources for all GSIs, as well as services specifically for international GSIs (IGSIs). The center houses the Language Proficiency Program, which oversees the testing of oral English proficiency and offers courses for prospective and current IGSIs on oral English proficiency, cross-cultural communication, and practice teaching. For more information, call 642-4456 or e-mail gsi@uclink4.berkeley.edu.
• International House, 2299 Piedmont Avenue, is an independently run residential and cultural center with residents from over 60 countries, but you do not have to live there to participate in events and activities that include lectures, language tables, aerobics classes, social dances, folk dances, coffee hours, and Sunday movies. For more information, call 642-9460 or consult the I-House Web site (www-ihouse.berkeley.edu/ih).
• Subscribe to the International Student Listserv, a moderated e-mail digest of immigration news, special events and announcements, financial aid deadlines, workshop dates, and other information of interest to the University international student community. To subscribe, send an e-mail to majordomo@listlink.berkeley.edu. Leave the “subject” line blank. In the message section, type: subscribe ucb_international_students. You will receive e-mail confirmation that you have been added to the listserv.
• MBA students Alon Meller and Maria Jaramillo have produced an International Students Survival Guide for their fellow Haas students, but the advice they provide on housing, shopping, immigration, visa, tax issues, banking, and “tips for significant others” are helpful for international students in any department. The guide is posted on the Web (haas.berkeley.edu/~ haasweek/98spring/headingto/survival_guide.html).
• The opening pages of the phone book (both the Pacific Bell White Pages and Yellow Pages) contain a wealth of information for newcomers, including local maps, a calendar of events, a listing of recreational areas, and even theater seating charts. The phone books list emergency phone numbers and community services and include a first aid and survival guide.
• Services for International Students and Scholars (SISS) handles visa and immigration matters. SISS also provides personal and financial counseling for international students through both scheduled and drop-in appointments. And you can find flyers outside the SISS office offering practical information on everything from opening a checking account to buying a car. Although located in the independently operated International House, 2299 Piedmont Avenue, SISS is an official University office. You can reach SISS by phone (642-2818), e-mail (siss@uclink.berkeley.edu), or on the World Wide Web (ias.berkeley.edu/siss).
• The UCB-Parents Mailing List (ucb-parents@parents.berkeley.edu) is not specifically for international students, but it’s an invaluable source of information for any graduate student with children. Berkeley faculty, staff, and students use the e-mail list to post questions and answers about all kinds of campus and community resources for families, from information about local elementary schools to tips on finding baby sitters. International graduate students with children may also consult the UC Berkeley Parents Network Web site (parents.berkeley.edu), which summarizes advice from the e-mail list and provides information on campus and community recreation programs and other matters of interest to families. In addition, Parent’s Place, part of the Student Parent Project developed by and located in the Women’s Resource Center, 250 César E. Chavez Student Center, provides a comfortable room with a changing table and toys. The Student Parent Project also maintains a Family Resource Center at University Village in Albany; for information, call 528-4784.
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