International Student and Scholar Services supports incoming UT Austin researchers from all over the world. Recently, ISSS held a “Meet a Scholar” event, in which three post-doctoral researchers shared their journeys to Austin and projects on campus. Marta Cobo Simón is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Integrative Biology.… read more
Support & Resources
My First Year as an International Longhorn
It’s your favorite over-caffeinated, language-loving, Plan-II-majoring, pink-haired rising sophomore, Diana Arriaga, here! I know that introduction was a handful, but to be fair, so was my freshman year! Since this blog last heard from me, I’ve been up and about–as much as one can virtually. These past two semesters have… read more
International Scholarship Recipient Wants to Serve Community via Journalism
From becoming a President’s Award for Global Learning finalist to performing songs in front of her classmates, junior international student Clarissa Abrego is on a determined path to become a master of all trades and jack of none. From Monterrey, Mexico, Abrego is the second of four UT recipients of… read more
7,671 Miles Away from Home: My Learnings
Looking back to when I was a 17-year-old girl in Karachi, Pakistan waiting to hear back from universities I applied to, I never thought I would end up where I did. The University of Texas at Austin was the very first university I heard back from, and I knew in… read more
International Orientation Volunteers Offer Advice to Incoming Students
To welcome incoming international students this spring, International Orientation Volunteers (IOVs) conducted “Mentor Meetings,” a series of informative presentations covering various cultural, social and academic topics introducing new students to the Longhorn way of life. These sessions took place over Zoom from Jan. 6-14. There was a total of… read more
How to Combat Homesickness and Smoothly Transition to a New Culture
This post was contributed by Le Dang Khoa (Kevin) Pham, a Civil Engineering freshman from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Before coming to the United States, I had been going to “international schools” in Vietnam. Essentially, they are private schools that combine two educational systems: one of the systems is… read more
“So, where did you Study Abroad?”: A question that finally has an answer
Awright, my name is Colin and I’m from a small town in Central Scotland called Whitburn, which is around 30 miles from Edinburgh. I’m currently in year two of my M.Ed. in Urban Teaching at UT, and I am undertaking my student teaching semester virtually from home in Oregon. My… read more
A Tale Between Two Cities
This post was contributed by international student Diana Arriaga, a Plan II and International Relations and Global Studies freshman at UT. On the morning of what would become my last day of high school in Brownsville, Texas, sheer terror bled through me when my anatomy teacher told us Border Patrol would… read more
Coping with the Pandemic: Giving My Service to Others
This post was contributed by international student Vira Wiguna, an accounting sophomore at UT. 2020 has been an unusual experience, to say the least. As an international student, who is writing this article from her underground bunker deep in the heart of campus, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed my life… read more