If you see groups of students moving around campus today carrying purple sheets of paper, consider stopping to welcome them to campus. Then, welcome them to the United States.
Odds are, the students will be international students taking part in International Health and Medical Education’s increasingly popular scavenger hunt.
The event is part of a series of international student orientation activities designed to help deal with culture shock and reduce the risk of the students feeling isolated in an unfamiliar country.
The focus of the events is to help new-to-the-United States international students get acquainted with the campus and the local region, as well as providing hints on some practical life needs — where to shop for groceries, entertainment options, housing issues.
“Some of the sessions are very specific,” said Danielle Dohrmann, director of program development, International Health and Medical Education. “For example, we have a session on visas and visa issues.”
Not everything is that weighty: There are sessions on U.S. sports and U.S. holidays.
The scavenger hunt, of course, is designed not only to acclimate the students to campus areas they will be using, but to allow them to meet people.
There also are three post-orientation “soft sessions,” held in collaboration with student counseling, in which students can discuss issues that may have arisen in their first few weeks.
“We like to keep in touch,” Dohrmann said.