As the week before spring break comes to a close, a large percentage of Whitman students are preparing to return home. This is not the case for many of Whitman’s approximately 60 international students, who spend the break working on campus or on local trips because distance and expense make a return home unfeasible.

“A lot of them remain on campus and work over any break they can,” said Kris Barry, international student and scholar advisor. “I’ve had students in the past who have never gone home over their entire four years. It can be very tough.”

Barry said that students are often unaware that many of their international classmates stay on campus over break.

“Sometimes Whitman students go off on vacations and don’t realize that many of their international classmates are staying at Whitman,” she said.

Neda Ansaari, a senior from India, is one such international student. She will be spending the first week of break in Seattle and will return to campus for the second.

“When you see parents coming over for weekends, or students being excited about going home, it’s hard, because we don’t get that,” Ansaari said.

The difficulty of being so far away also means that many international students’ parents can’t easily visit.

“Most students have homesickness, across the board, but I do think having your support system so far away and inaccessible compounds it,” said Barry.

Staying in the United States for spring break also means that foreign students won’t be getting any relief from U.S. culture.

“I think the adjustment to college is hard for everybody, but for international students it is especially hard because they also have to adjust to a new culture,” said Ansaari.

Despite the unique difficulties international students face, the common situation leads to a bonding experience.

“The international students here are very close,” said Ansaari.

When Whitman’s international students do get off campus, they are often forced to be creative and resourceful in searching for options. This year’s International Banquet will help to pay for eight international students to spend a week in Vancouver this spring break.

Lauren Moscovis, a first-year from Australia, is one of the students going to Vancouver.

“Sometimes I want to go home and that’s not usually an option, but I do have other international students who can relate and know what I’m going through,” she said. “That’s a really good thing about Whitman. They have an intercultural center where you can all get together and talk. It’s not like you’re isolated.”