ISSO welcomes new students to the world of SCAD
The International Student Services Office, or ISSO, held their quarterly reception at The Mirage on January 11. The air was filled with the sounds of laughter and conversations as both the new and the returning international students enjoyed their Moroccan tea and desserts.
When the international students arrive in Savannah, they are rushed from the airport to orientation, and then immediately to checking in at the dorm rooms. Jeff Jones, director of ISSO, says that these receptions are held quarterly to help these students relax after a whirlwind first week.
“We really just try to reconnect with them a week after classes to say ‘Welcome to SCAD’,” says Jones. “And that really gives us an opportunity then to introduce them to our current students.”
Obadah Aljefri, a second-year animation student from Saudi Arabia, added that the receptions were not only a good way to welcome students, but to also familiarize them with the environment.
“This is a perfect networking possibility for me and for students who come here,” says Akmyrat Tuyliyev, a fourth-year student from Turkmenistan. Tuyliyev comes to ISSO receptions as often as possible so he can form lasting connections with other students.
“Later on, if they need help at SCAD they can contact me. Or if I need advice or something in whatever they might know, I can contact them. And then that also extends to the future after SCAD.”
There are around 50 new international students who have enrolled this quarter, including five students from SCAD Hong Kong.
Among those students is Veeraya Kanchanobhas, a graduate student from Thailand taking up sequential art. She said that it was her professor back home, an alumnus of the school, who recommended SCAD to her. She was surprised and impressed with the majors that were offered and applied, stating that one of the cultural differences she noticed here in Savannah was how cold the weather was and how warm the people were.
“They are really easy-going here,” she said. “Back home, they are not really this easy-going.” She even mentioned that she was hugged by one of the locals here, who also wished her good luck as she was eating in McDonald’s.
Jones explains that students travel from around the globe to Savannah because “they want to come to the best art and design school in the world, of course.”
When asked if they would attend next quarter’s reception, students answered with a resounding yes, especially Tuyliyev.
“Because SCAD has many diverse and creative, very friendly people, every quarter we have someone new coming and all of them are so different, so different in their personality, different in their creativity, what they want to do. But they’re all at the same time, very talented individuals. It’s a great feeling to know that I’m going to the same school as them.”
ISSO’s next big event is a trip to Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla. on January 18-20. You can learn more about the trip here.
