Lakeland Mirror

Issue date: 12/6/07 Section: Features

For a small school like Lakeland College that has a little over 967 traditional students, getting an average of 25 international students every year is something to be proud of. The latest statistics show that there are currently 147 international students enrolled at Lakeland. These international students who represent 33 countries across the globe not only fill up the classes and dorms of Lakeland, but also bring their unique culture and traditions with them.
With such a huge number of international students, Lakeland has become what we would like to call a "mini-world," where it has become a necessity for domestic and international students to get to know each other on a daily basis. With this in mind, the conversation partners program was started.
Suzanne House, director of academic advising and an English language instructor, introduced the conversation partners program last year. Li-Ting Huang, a senior, is in charge of recruiting and matching the partners. Conversation partners are matched very carefully according their personalities and interests.
"If a teacher asks you to do something, people feel like they are doing something for the class. If a student asks them to do the same thing, they will want to do it themselves," said Suzanne, giving reason for putting a student in charge of such a big program.
The program allows international students to interact with native students and experience college life from an American perspective. On the other hand, American students also are exposed to various cultures without actually visiting that country. "American students get a chance to learn not only about different culture but about the American culture too," said House.
It is human nature to take things that are offered to them every day for granted. This program explores the depth of various lifestyles, and encourages everyone to be more observant.
Allison Lichtenberg, a freshman said," I really like this program because I really want to meet people from different countries. I am really glad I did it."
Getting used to interacting with American students helps international students come out of their shell and participate more actively in the classroom activities. One international student who wished to remain anonymous said, "This is the first time I really think that in school somebody thinks about international students and lets us practice our English. The other school I went to in Germany does not have such a program. Here, we have fun and we know each other a lot better."

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