Adwar Don Oguttuh

Major: Education

Year: Graduate Student
 

Where are you from?: Kenya
 

Where have you traveled to?: USA, Uganda and Tanzania
 

Where in the world do you most want to visit and why?: Cape Verde, Egypt, France and South Africa.  I would love to visit Cape Verde because of the beautiful scenery and the warmth of the Cape Verdeans I have met so far.  I would love to see the pyramids in Egypt.  I would also love to visit South Africa.  Even though I am Kenyan (and I love my country) I would love to visit other parts of Africa too.

Why did you become an International Orientation Leader?: I find joy in meeting and helping new people, making them feel comfortable and welcome.  I would go out of my way to assist international students.  I am one and I know the challenges they would face and how to tackle them.
 

What are you most excited about for this new semester?: I  am most excited about meeting new people and being an International Orientation Leader.

Jennifer Ramirez

Major: Criminal Justice

Year: Sophmore

Where are you from? Boston, MA

Where have you traveled to? Canada, Dominican Republic and Paris

Where in the world do you most want to visit and why? Brazil.  I love the culture, food and music.  I've been taking Portuguese classes throughout my college years and I've fallen more in love with it and the idea.

Why did you become an International Orientation Leader? I became an IOL because I also have diversity and I know how it feels to be surrounded by different people and how sometimes it could be intimidating.  I feel I could be a great help to the international students coming in.

What are you most excited about for this new semester?  Meeting all the new people and being introduced to new cultures and languages.  And being a Junior!

Joanna Frageorgia

Major: English with Secondary Education

Year: Senior

Where are you from? Plainville, MA

Where have you traveled to? Paris, France and Canada.  I have mostly traveled within the United States.

Where in the world do you most want to visit and why? I want to go everywhere! I would love to go to China and visit my old roommates.  However, I have always wanted to go to Egypt and visit the historical sites.  Also, I have been invited to go to Cape Verde, so I want to go there too!

Why did you become an International Orientation Leader? I wanted to become an International Orientation Leader because I love connecting with the international students and introducing them to the Bridgewater community.

What are you most excited about for this new semester?  I am most excited about meeting the new students and welcoming them to Bridgewater State University!  Also, this is my last semester before student teaching!

Maggie Li

Major: MBA

Year: Graduate Student

Where are you from? China

Where have you traveled to? Singapore, China, the United States

Where in the world do you most want to visit and why? Greece.  I heard it's beautiful there and it's totally different from the countries I've traveled to before.  It will be an eye open for me definitely. I'd also like to visit the South Pole and Australia.  I want to pet penguins and take pictures with koalas.

Why did you become an International Orientation Leader? Being a MBA major, I am eager to learn leadership skills and have influences on others.  As an international student from China, I hope that every international student has a positive stay here and enjoys his/her study and life at BSU.

What are you most excited about for this new semester?  I am excited to meet these new students and learn new cultures from them.  I hope I am able to apply the knowledge I learned into practical experiences.

McKayla Hoffman

Major: Anthropology/Public Archaeology

Year: Sophmore

Where are you from? Assonet, MA

Where have you traveled to? I traveled in a big circle around Europe, and we hit Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Belgium and Switzerland.  I've also been all over New England!

Where in the world do you most want to visit and why? I would love to travel to Egypt! Ever since 4th grade I've wanted to be an Egyptologist because I adore the history, the architecture and their rich culture!  I would also love to go to Haiti because I also love their culture and the people are incredible!

Why did you become an International Orientation Leader? I wanted to become an International Orientation Leader so that I could meet international students, share our cultural experiences with one another and help them feel comfortable here at BSU!

What are you most excited about for this new semester?  I am excited to make more lasting friendships with the International Orientation Leader crew and the international students I'll meet.  I also can't wait to learn about cultures I might not have known a lot about before this new semester.

Paulo Borges

Major: Master of Arts in Teaching, English

Year: Graduate student
 

Where are you from?: Cape Verde
 

Where have you traveled to?: Senegal, England and the United States

Where in the world do you most want to visit and why?: I would like to visit China and Kenya. I think China is a country with a rich history. I am really interested in learning about the great wall, to understand how and why they built it. Also, I think that Chinese people are nice and they have a variety of delicious food. Kenya's wild life is amazing. The people are simple and friendly.

Why did you become an International Orientation Leader?: I became an International Orientation Leader because I like helping people and it is an opportunity for me to develop my leadership skills. Also, it is an opportunity to meet people from different cultural backgrounds. It will help me understand how diverse cultures get together and share their differences and commonalities.

What are you most excited about for this new semester?: I am excited about meeting and working with new students, making new friends and getting involved in the events that will be organized on campus. 

Sharon Nabugawa

Major: Economics minoring in Mathematics

Year: Junior

Where are you from? Uganda

Where have you traveled to? Kenya and the United Kingdom

Where in the world do you most want to visit and why? Egypt because there is a lot of history there, Saudi Arabia because I'd like to see what's inside and India to eat the spicy food.

Why did you become an International Orientation Leader? To meet new people.

What are you most excited about for this new semester?  Getting closer to the finish line.

Zita Mendes

Major: Education and English

Year: Graduate Student

Where are you from? Cape Verde

Where have you traveled to? Portugal, France, England, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, USA (Virginia, Washington, New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island).

Where in the world do you most want to visit and why? Italy because I want to learn Italian and try the wonderful food.

Why did you become an International Orientation Leader? To get more involved on campus by meeting the international students and get the opportunity to share what I learned at my own orientation.

What are you most excited about for this new semester?  That I will be working with high school kids during the summer.