New program brings students to campus

Nadia Asta and Rami Mahjouba frequently find themselves talking about their home country of Tunisia when meeting students on the South Dakota State University campus.

They are attending State this year through the International Research and Exchanges Board. In addition to Asta and Mahjouba, Iqra Abbasi and Aminah Siddique—who hail from Pakistan—are also here because of IREX’s Global Undergraduate Exchange Program. This year is the first time State has enrolled students through IREX.

“We talk about our country and culture because a lot of people don’t know where Tunisia is or have never heard of it,” Asta said. “We will be doing a country presentation sometime later this semester so that will be a great chance to introduce Tunisia to SDSU. I am very excited about that.”

South Dakota State had students from 81 nations last year but no student called Tunisia home.

“We were identified by IREX, which looked at our majors and other criteria, and felt that we would be a match with the students,” said Sally Gillman, SDSU’s director for study abroad. “I know most of our faculty and department heads are pretty excited to have students from another part of the world on campus.”

Abbasi and Siddique will only be on campus for the fall semester while the Tunisian students are at State for the entire academic year. The students are studying architecture, biology and electrical engineering and are also required to take a course related to American culture.

“I applied to enter this program so I could experience something different in my life,” said Siddique, who has spent all of her life in Islamabad. “I wanted to explore and see how I can develop myself. This place is very calm. The university is huge and is extremely different from home. The people here are kind and polite. We come across things that we’re not used to back in Pakistan. We’re not used to people holding doors for people or saying hi to every person we walk by. As an exchange student, I am very excited to be here in South Dakota.”

It is also Abbasi’s first time out of Pakistan.

“There are so many people of different cultures here,” she said. “It’s a really good experience to meet new people and get to know more about them.

“I’m glad to be here. The U.S. is a great country to live in where people are independent,” she continued. “I think this is the best part of being here when you are all alone and you have to make all the decisions yourself, and that’s when you know more about your positivity and creativity.”

Asta, who is from Tunis, Tunisia, appreciates the fact many cultures are on the SDSU campus.

“It is so diverse here so we can not only learn about the American culture but many other cultures as well,” she said.

Mahjouba is appreciative of the many activities on campus and is looking forward to participating in a community service project.

The community service project is a requirement by IREX. The Tunisian students will also have to complete an internship.

Asta said she learned of the program from other students in Tunisia and the American embassy. She said her brief time here has already taught her several things.

“This is my first time living away from home,” she said. “This time here is going to teach me to be responsible, how to be independent. I had no idea how to open a bank account. I used to go my dad and he’d do all of these things. Before, we would just go home and everything would be there, all taken care of. We now have to think about everything.”

Following their time at SDSU, all said they will finish their college educations in their home countries.

“We’re going to be very different people when we get back,” Siddique said.