ACPA19: #YuanthePRO style

Commission for Global Dimensions of Student Development
By Yuan Zhou Even though this is my third ACPA, the excitement and conference-jittery are still there as I board my plane from San Francisco to Boston. In this blog post, I am happy to be sharing how I experienced ACPA this year. This is the first year that I have attended a two-day pre-conference session. If you are able to, I would recommend registering for and adding a pre-conference to your...

Staying to my roots, even abroad- Notes from Cuba

Commission for Global Dimensions of Student Development
By Abigail Smith One of my concerns with deciding to work abroad was losing sight of my Caribbean roots in terms of scholarship and best practices in the region. While I found small ways to stay immersed in literature throughout undergraduate and graduate school, I was not sure how I would continue/be motivated to do so with a full time job. Networking with Afro-Caribbean scholars based in the US...

Tutoring and Working with International, Non-Traditional, and First-Generation Students

Commission for Global Dimensions of Student Development
By Paulina Romero-Rodrigues As a first-generation immigrant from Mexico who completed her entire schooling in United States, speaks better English than her native language Spanish, and has had the fortune of traveling and studying various cultures and languages, I always thought my career trajectory would lead me to something “exciting” like the United Nations or UNICEF. I never intended to end...

Welcoming International Students: 3 Necessities to Feel at Home in a New Culture

Commission for Global Dimensions of Student Development
By Elizabeth Adams I’ll never forget that last look as the van drove me away. Each moment the buildings got smaller while the hole in my heart grew bigger. When I had first arrived as a foreign teacher in this flourishing coastal city in Asia, I never imagined how much it would hurt to leave. It wasn’t just the place where I lived; it was my home. Picture: Enjoying last meals with friends before...

My Story: Wanting a "Normal" American High School and College Experience

Commission for Global Dimensions of Student Development
By Gudrun Nyunt I am from Austria. There, I said it. For the longest time, my identity as an international or foreign-born student/professional was not something I wanted to talk about. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk about my home country or background; I just got frustrated when people seemed to only be interested in this one aspect of my identity. Bregenz, Austria - Gudrun's hometown I...