An Ending is a New Beginning - Part 1

In my favorite Disney movie Tangled, Rapunzel and Flynn Rider had a sweet little dialogue that I happen to love so much. When Flynn brought Rapunzel to see the lanterns, Rapunzel asked Flynn: “I’ve been looking out of a window for eighteen years, dreaming about what I might feel like when those lights rise in the sky. What if it’s not everything I dreamed it would be?”

“It will be,” Flynn answered.

“And that if it is? What do I do then?”

“Well, that’s the good part I guess. You get to go find a new dream.”

I was just another typical college student from Hong Kong who decided to go to college at Michigan State University (MSU) because I have never seen snow in my life.

I wasn’t kidding about the snow. And the winter in Michigan wasn’t kidding either. A snowy winter was one of the many things that I wished for when I was young.

Yet, other than the snow, I had a fantastic experience in MSU—especially my work experiences on various on-campus jobs. Almost everyone who knows me well knew that I love my on-campus jobs to a degree that I quit my summer intern position back in Hong Kong, flew back to Lansing, and continued working in that office throughout summer break just because I love that work environment so much. One of these positions was as a student intern at the Office for International Students & Scholars (OISS) at MSU. This is where it all began. This is where my American dream began.

They hired me as a student worker when I was only a rising sophomore with very limited work experience; I guess they were courageous enough to trust an 18 year old to get some of the work done. Despite all of the sarcasm, I am forever grateful for the opportunity. To say this office has both challenged and nurtured me to be who I am today is an understatement.

I remember I was tasked to do front desk duty on my first day of work, where I had to monitor the office phone and respond to caller’s inquiries, while I knew nothing about OPT, CPT, or pretty much anything that is immigration-related. The only phone call that I was able to handle was when an international student asked our office how to turn on the heater in his residential hall; I transferred his phone call to the Housing Office, and that was the only task that I was able to perform without asking questions.

Picture: I attended the NAFSA National Conference in 2016 with other interns in the office.

Often times, in student affairs, you learn as you go. The more you learn, the more you know—not only professionally but also personally. I was able to discover where my true passion lied a few months into this student worker position. That was the lightbulb moment when I started to dream about the “what ifs.” What if I could stay in the same office and work after I graduate? What if I could just do this student affairs thing for a living?

That was when I started to consider applying for graduate school. It wasn’t an easy decision, since I had no clue how to explain the idea of “student affairs” to my parent back home because it is not really a thing back there. It took me a while to convince my mother that pursuing a higher education degree is an extension of my human development degree, and it would definitely open more doors for me in the future. Technically, I did not lie; realistically, though, I wouldn’t call that an extension, but more of a new chapter that would broaden my horizon and reassure me of what I actually want to do for the rest of my life.

Being the only international student and the youngest in my graduate school cohort (or in the entire Higher Education Administration program) was definitely a very interesting experience. Attending graduate school in a private institution located in the South definitely stirred things up a little more than I had anticipated. Graduate school was nothing like college; I learned so much over the two short years, and I met a whole lot of phenomenal people both on- and off-campus. I was so fortunate to have met a supportive cohort from all around the United States, plenty of extraordinary peers from the International Education Policy and Management program who are from all over the world, and countless phenomenal mentors working in different student affairs functional areas. These scholars and practitioners have inspired me to be a better self along the way, and I was able to notice the significant transformation that I had gone through as I walked across the stage with my graduation gown.

Picture: My first professional conference presentation at the Tennessee Association of International Educators (TAIE)

TO BE CONTINUED....

In two weeks, Vicky's blog will continue with her recollections of going through the job search as an international student. 

Are you an international graduate student interested in pursuing a career in Student Affairs? Join us for a roundtable on job searching as a foreign-born Student Affairs Professional this Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018. For more information, go here: http://www.myacpa.org/events/roundtable-job-searching-foreign-born-sa-professionals

A native born and raised in Hong Kong, Vicky Lee graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Human Development & Family Studies and minor in Sociology. Upon completing her undergraduate degree, she moved from Michigan to Tennessee to pursue her Master of Education in Higher Education Administration at Vanderbilt University, with an emphasis on international higher education, multicultural education, and student affairs. Her higher education experience includes academic research, international student and scholar programming, international student advising, housing operations and residential education, and communications. Vicky has also worked abroad in Scotland, where she has attained experiences in event planning and development, logistics coordination and scheduling, recruitment, social media outreach and marketing, and relationship management. Vicky joined the Office for International Students and Scholars at Michigan State University on her OPT as an International Student Advisor and Student Engagement Coordinator in June 2018, and has recently received her H-1B approval to continue creating a more welcoming learning environment for the international student population on campus.