全球恋人们网络

The path to career success for international students—whether at home or abroad in the United States—isn’t always easy.

“我们总是被鼓励去追随自己的激情, 但是对于国际学生来说, 它不是简单地走那条路. 还有法律问题，”20岁的Linh Anh Le说.

在加州拜访朋友讨论签证的时候, Le was inspired to bring 贝洛伊特’s large international community together to think about the particular issues students from countries outside the United States face as they choose classes, 建立职业生涯, 在此期间做所有的事情.

来自越南的商业经济与教育专业, Le hoped to leverage the connections she had already made as a member of the college’s International Club. Her goal was to create a career services resource especially for international students. 她联系了98届的杰西卡·福克斯·威尔逊, 学院的职业发展主任, who connected her with two other students completing honors term research on the experiences of international students. Lu " Emily " Liu ' 18, 数学和经济学双学位，来自中国, 杨贤勇(Hian Yong Yeo) 17岁, 来自新加坡的批判性身份研究专业, had each identified career development as a major area of need for international students at 贝洛伊特.

Together, the three women founded the 贝洛伊特 International Student Career 服务 club. 他们举办了第一次校园活动, 3月初的“学生互助”活动, 有40多名学生参加. The event was an opportunity for juniors and seniors to exchange knowledge with first-year and sopho更多的 students about internships, 选择类, 让他们重新审视自己的履历. Fox-Wilson was invited to attend and gave a presentation on resources available to international students through the college’s Liberal Arts in Practice Center.

“国际学生可以为雇主提供很多东西. 通常, they are multilingual and have a diversity of experiences that we don’t always see in domestic students. 这些事情对他们有利, 但他们也面临着持有学生签证的障碍,福克斯-威尔逊说.

例如, 当持有F-1学生签证的国际学生毕业时, they are eligible to apply for 12 months of Optional Practical Training, a type of employment authorization and a benefit of their student status. Optional Practical Training makes students eligible to work in employment directly related to their fields of study for 12 months, and students with majors in qualifying STEM fields may be eligible to obtain an additional 24 months of authorization. 一旦他们完成了这段时间的实践训练, students require a sponsor to continue working in the United States. Those without employer sponsorship need to return home or begin a new program of study.

Fresh off the success of the Students Helping Students event, the 贝洛伊特 International Student Career 服务 club decided to tap into 贝洛伊特’s international 校友 network. 他们开始策划“全球潜行者”,” a larger undertaking that brought 校友 back to campus or via video-chat to offer advice and perspectives to current students. 在获得超过4美元之后,把校友带回来, the founders reached out to every department chair on campus, 利用他们在Facebook上的关系, and worked with the college’s Office of Development and 校友 Relations to identify and connect with 校友.

“I wanted to have people [participate] who had real experiences searching for jobs,” says Le.

12岁的Thu 范教授是土生土长的越南人，目前在华盛顿州西雅图工作.他通过视频聊天的方式参加了“全球贝洛伊特ers”活动. She said she was able to connect with several students about the hurdles she faced entering the career force after college.

“我的导师就像对待国内学生一样看待我,范说。, adding that they didn’t fully understand the visa process and couldn’t advise her on that part of her post-贝洛伊特 life.

范教授, 经济管理和传媒研究双学位, said she initially had trouble finding a job in her field upon graduation. 变得更有竞争力, she challenged herself to learn technical skills and now works in public relations for a biotechnology company.

She says she hopes the club expands to include 更多的 mentorship opportunities between 校友 and current students. “I have a lot of things I want to share and I want them to utilize my experiences,范说。.

100多名学生, 校友, and a few faculty members attended the Global 贝洛伊特ers event, which featured two panels—one focused on the path from college to graduate school, 还有一个人正在从大学步入职场.

20名校友飞回伯洛伊特参加活动, 包括Matej Jungwirth ' 14, who is completing his master’s degree in public affairs at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He says that funding post-collegiate plans was a hot topic of discussion for students facing the all-too-familiar anxiety of what to do after graduating from 贝洛伊特.

“特别, students were interested in my path to Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School and how I made my way in,他说.

For Le and Fox-Wilson, the two events held in the club’s inaugural year are only the beginning.

The club has expanded to 20 student members and will be continuing to host events through the 2018-19 school year. Le says she hopes to start a mentoring program between international 校友 and current students, while Fox-Wilson says her office will expand 贝洛伊特’s presence at career fairs with an eye toward locating and building relationships with companies that have a solid record of sponsoring­­ international students.