Literature Review

I’ve acquired a few sources for my literature review. They are articles I found from our time in the library, learning how to look up articles and databases as a class. My community of research is the Cranwell International Center and my articles present different aspects of this community. A common thread I found throughout all of these articles, however, is the positive impact Cranwell’s services have both on the international students at Virginia Tech, and on the Blacksburg community. One article told about a woman’s fight to get her U.S. residency after she obtained her post-doctorate. Another article described what goes on during “international week,” held at the Cranwell Center. The third article talks about a family in Blacksburg who participates in the “International Friendship Program” and consider the international students they’ve hosted like their own children. The last article is about how international students here at Virginia Tech have adjusted to life in Blacksburg from their hometowns in other countries.
The first article I mentioned, titled, “‘Postdocs’ Fight the Clock to Get U.S. Residency,” (Esposito, 2007) goes into the struggle many international scholars have when trying to study in the U.S. In one particular case, Katrin Anacker, a German woman had a scholarship to study at Ohio State University and then stayed in America through Virginia Tech’s Metropolitan Institute in Alexandria, is running out of time to apply for U.S. residency because she has yet to get a job offer. Kim Beisecker, the director of the Cranwell International Center brought up a very scary, yet true point in this article. First, she mentions in the article that “there’s no underestimating how difficult how difficult it can be for foreign scholars without permanent residency to jump from position to position and one temporary visa to another.” Beisecker says, “You’re talking years of not knowing where your future is. No control over timing, no control over the decision, really.”
The second article I use in my literature review, “Around the World in 10 Days Explore Cultural Diversity During Tech’s International Week,” (Mason, 1996) advertises Tech’s celebration of international diversity due to a variety of events in a span of 10 days, held at the Cranwell International Center. It begins with a parade at the Cranwell Center and includes a variety of events including movie nights, luncheons celebrating the foods of different cultures and the International Street Fair on Saturday. A good number of the students who go to Tech are foreign students so the Mason writes that through international week, the student of Tech and the people of Blacksburg can learn about the different cultures represented without having to leave Blacksburg.
The third article I use, “Hosts Can Create an International Family,” (Campbell, 2001) sheds light on the “International Friendship Program” the Cranwell Center offers. Through this program, families can host international students and help them better acclimate to the American life-style. The family this article is about, the Whites, “have nine children, but only three are theirs biologically…[they] consider six international students they’ve adopted…as their own children.” One international student from China, Xuzhu Dong, thinks of the Whites, Christiansburg residents, as his American mother and father. The Whites have done many different activates with Dong. They even hosted his baby shower for him and his wife, and have included them in their Christmas and Thanksgiving holidays.
The last article in my literature review, “Virginia Tech: International Students at Virginia Tech Face Daily Challenges,” (Welter, 2000) consults with a couple of international students at Virginia Tech and records their opinions of the university and campus. This article cites Kim Beisecker’s claim once again that Tech’s international students represent many different nationalities each year. The students interviewed for this article all say that they love the Blacksburg campus for its rural setting. They do complain however that because of this rural setting, it’s more difficult to get around if you don’t have a car but they enjoy the activities offered on campus none the less.
Through these articles that I have read, there’s no denying that the Cranwell International Center’s impact on the students at Tech and the Blacksburg community has been an influential and positive one. I’ve seen time and time again that although the transition international students have to make to both Tech and to America can be a very difficult one, the Cranwell Center does a superb job making that transition as smooth as possible. They do this both by teaching the students how to adapt to American culture, and by educating U.S. citizens of the cultures represented at Virginia Tech.

Cranwell International Center interview

Here is my Cranwell Center interview! I interviewed the head of volunteer services, Rachael Christensen. Hope you enjoy :)

Cranwell International Center (CIC) interview

What is the main goal of the CIC?
To give support to international students, scholars, faculty, and their families. For undergraduate students, we specialize in immigration; getting their papers, getting them squared away. Our two main goals are to outreach and educate. We also provide volunteers for events and programs. Also, we take care of any cultural issues that arise when international people come here and have questions.

What are some examples of ways you reach out to the international students?
The events that we provide mainly are to help international students understand American culture. There are movie nights, English conversation groups, and different lectures that address aspects of American cultures, such as “Introduction to Football.” We also offer a variety of domestic student interaction programs. There is the friendship program where one American student is paired up with an international student and once a month goes out with them, and catches up on how the transition to America is going. There are also welcome banquets and farewell banquets we host throughout the year which include dancing and food.

Could you tell me about the history of the CIC?
The Cranwell family owned the house that became the Cranwell Center. The family wanted to donate the house to the athletic program at Virginia Tech, but they didn’t need the house. Virginia Tech did, however need an international center. So, in 1986, the house was renovated and became the Cranwell International Center. It started out with a small staff, but since then has grown. They celebrated their 20th anniversary in 2006.

How many different nationalities are represented at the CIC?
The numbers for the year 2008 haven’t been released yet. As of the year 2007, 112 countries are represented and there are 2151 international students on campus.

How do the majority of international students react to the big change of studying in the US?
There is no “majority way” that the students here react. Different students react in different ways. Some are excited, some are overwhelmed, some are a little bit of both. Most students are mostly overwhelmed by the language barrier and the customs. They are always wondering, “what’s normal?” They react how any other student would studying in a different country.

How long have you worked for the CIC?
I started working here part time in the summer of 2006 in community services. I’ve worked here for two years.

How did you end up working for the CIC?
I heard about the Cranwell Center through neighbors. I was working on my PhD and I was at the phase where I was doing my dissertation research. I needed a part time job so I applied here. I had lived abroad so I thought this would be a good fit.

What do you like best about working at the CIC?
There are two things I like best. First of all, it’s fun! It’s so engaging. I love the students and working with kids who really want to interact with our culture. Watching that connection take place between the international students and American people and culture is amazing. Another thing I like is that it’s on the edge. There are so many possible tensions that come with international students adjusting to our culture. I love the challenge of having to smooth things out between the international students and their area of difficulty.

Could you elaborate on the kinds of tensions that are present for international students?
Well there are many cultural assumptions; things that we consider normal and things that they consider normal. When we say something, we could mean it one way, but an international student might take it another way because that’s the way they were brought up in their home country. So the main tension is in the communication. Americans can say things subconsciously in their speech that students of different ethnic backgrounds might take literally or in the opposite meaning that it was intended.

Site visit and interview

Fortunately for me, I also happen to be a volunteer with the community I'm researching, so I've already made a site visit there. While I was there though, I didn't really take in everything so I will have to go back again when I do my interview and really observe the International Cranwell Center. What I did get from it was that it was right by Lane Stadium, it looked quaint as if it were in the middle of the woods, and it was a refurbished house. The fact that it was a refurbished house made the Cranwell Center feel even more personal, it gave it a homey feeling.

I have not done my interview yet, but it is scheduled for this thursday at 2pm. I can't wait to get more info and share it with you all!

Until then,

Gina :)

Course Goals

My course goals for this semester's english class are:

To develop good skills- in interviewing, listening, asking questions, writing observations, and really knowing how to capture different situations.

To have good class discussions- having good discussion with everyone's input and where more than 2 people are talking about their opionions gets interesting!

To navigate research materials well- whether it's for this research project for class or any other research for a paper I have to do in the future, knowing where to look for the best sources and knowing what to do once I get a hold of them would be beneficial.

I picked my community!

You guys can all sleep well at night from now on because I have finally chosen my community! haha I decided to research the International Cranwell Center, the student center for the international students on campus. I'm hoping that will go well :)

Also, in case anyone is interested, or you just want to read some of my wonderful writing (right...hehe) I decided to put in my observation I made this weekend at the football game, enjoy!

The Dreaded Stairs

“Gina! Meb! Hurry up you guys, we’re gonna be miss the beginning!” my friend Brittany shouts at me and my other friend, Meb, as we’re approaching Lane Stadium. We get so turned around, trying to find the right entrance into the stadium, weaving through endless seas of people, we realize we’re missing the beginning of the football game. For Meb and I of course, this doesn’t impact us at all because we could care about football less, but Brittany considered football with much higher importance. When we finally go into the right entrance to find our seats in the stands, we have this feeling of accomplishment. Out of all the entrances and after being so lost, we finally knew where we were, and where we were was seconds away from finding our seats at the game! When we finally turn in our tickets and look for our section number, we notice we have to go up a few flights of stairs. We do this with a little bit of difficulty, but get through it because we know our seats would be that much closer once we reached the top. We couldn’t have been more wrong.
Once we get to the top of those sets of stairs, we see empty seats (which we guessed were ours) at the very top of the section. In order to get to these seats, however, we had to go up the dreaded stairs. “Great, we weren’t as close to our seats as I thought,” I think to myself. As we go up this new set of stairs, it feels like an eternity. My legs were on fire, the sun was beating down on me, and each step took that much more effort and drained that much more out of me. Of course, Brittany is constantly reminding us to go faster and that we can’t keep up with her. Then I hear myself say out loud to whoever will listen, “Ahhh I’m so out of shape!!!” When we get to our seats at last, a sense of relief overcomes me, we made it!
I looked down those stairs we toiled to climb up on and realize just how steep those stairs were! Even though there were not that many stairs, they were so steep, they might as well have been vertical. I lean over and say to Meb, “Well that explains why it was such a workout to go up those stairs, look how steep they are!” Meb then nods in agreement.
As the game progresses I see other people making this feat of trudging up these stairs as well. I catch myself observing every person who walks up these stairs just to read their faces, try guess what they’re thinking. I see overweight people walk up the stairs, I see young, in-shape guys walking up these stairs and they might as well have been the same person. Everyone who walked up those stairs had a look of pain and impatience stretched across their faces regardless of their body type and physical capabilities, it was interesting to observe this. Some people were a little more vocal with their feelings towards the stairs, however, and I managed to hear snippets of people’s thoughts on the dreaded stairs: “I’ve never been so tired before in my life!!” “Damn these stairs!!” I then couldn’t help but feel a little more at ease with my initial reactions of the stairs. If those in-shape guys, and everyone else, had trouble, I was perfectly entitled to be incapable of making the trek up the stairs too!
Then Brittany asks, “Do you guys want to get something to eat or drink?” Meb and I immediately think of the dreaded stairs and the fact that we’d have to go down them and up again. We respond in unison, “NO!!!”