International Students Bring Cultural Diversity to Bluefield College

The campus community at Bluefield College is full of cultural diversity, thanks to a large number of countries represented in the student body.

In fact, 34 students have come from countries abroad to attend BC, representing 23 international countries. The most – four – have come from Brazil.

“It was mainly through Trent’s leadership (the late Trent Argo, former BC vice president for enrollment) that our international population grew,” said Bryan Frazier, dean of registration services, “from an average of 10 students in 2008 and 2009 to an average of 47 in 2016 and 2017.”

Among the countries represented in 2018: Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe.

Paloma Sanchez Vives from Spain is one of those international students. She said her decision to come to Bluefield College was a positive one. She chose to study abroad for many reasons, the biggest being a financial one. Like many college students, she said the schools that offered the best scholarships helped her make her decision.

“I am very blessed to be studying abroad, because it has given me the chance to improve my English, continue playing the sport (tennis) I have loved since I was a kid, and to meet so many people from so many different cultures and create such strong friendships with them,” said Sanchez Vives in sharing her perspective of what it’s like to study abroad. “There (are) no words to explain how this experience has changed me in so many ways.”

While she enjoys studying at Bluefield College, there are things she said she misses about life at home. A big difference between her life here and at home is the culture associated with food. In other countries, like Spain, meals are much later in the day and are more about sharing with each other. Meals, she said, involve more talking and interacting with one another. She said she misses that atmosphere and how loud and happy everyone is during meals.

And Sanchez Vives’ experiences are not the only perspectives adding cultural diversity to the BC community. The international population gives students the opportunity to interact with people they wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. It also gives international students a way to immerse themselves in American culture.