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By Beverly Wakiaga<\/p>\n
Parking and shuttles. These are some of the things that unite Quinnipiac students. Even international students. Yes, even parking. You would think that someone who traveled thousands of miles from home would not be as concerned with where they can park their car as a freshman. Most don\u2019t because they are focused on one thing, the American experience.<\/p>\n
America is the end all be all for those who live outside the country. If you can make it here, you have made it in life. Many want to go but very few actually make it here. Due to the political, economic, military and cultural clout America wields over the rest of the world, most of the narrative surrounding the country revolves around the American dream and American heroism. On top of that, American pop culture is more or less world culture. Movies like \u201cPitch Perfect,\u201d TV shows such as \u201cHow I Met Your Mother\u201d and \u201cFriends,\u201d inform the opinion of many people in other countries on what American life is like.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know how in shows like \u2018Friends\u2019 or \u2018How I Met Your Mother,\u2019 they live in an apartment that\u2019s really pretty?\u201d asked Nhung An, a Quinnipiac junior from Vietnam. “I wanted those things, and I liked that people looked different and not the same, like in Vietnam.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are 1,043,839 international students enrolled in American schools. Here at Quinnipiac, international students make up 3 percent of the Quinnipiac student body. According to Abbie O\u2019Neil, specialist for student engagement, there are between 200-250 international students at Quinnipiac during any given semester.<\/p>\n