From Academic Coach’s perspective
Interview with Suffolk’s Academic Coach for SBS & CAS
By Aqil K. Legopranowo
By Madeline Buman
How does your job help international students?
It’s a good question. What I believe is how it helps international students is by creating an atmosphere that shows them that Higher Education can help support in their academic achievement.
If you have a student that has difficulties understanding the content of your teaching, what support do they have?
I’m highly sensitive when it comes to that because it’s important when there is a barrier that can be managed when the message is sent across properly. If they don’t understand a lecture, what I will have to do if it makes sense to me but not to them would be two problems; the first would be the direct problem where you ask students if you understand the lecture, so it doesn’t happen again. Second is by providing them with academic support using Suffolk University’s resources such as workshops or coaching/tutoring as it does take time for international students not familiarized with the language to cope. It becomes easier as an academic coach as we encourage students to reach out to professors after class, make an appointment, or during their office hours.
Why/what do you like about teaching?
First off, what I love about teaching international students is being in a diverse room because it’s so lively and interesting to know different points of views. As a teacher you get to learn as it is one of the best parts because when you’re a teacher you face your ignorance every single day and it’s so true. I mean, you just let your ego down and what could end up happening is you could just learn from a whole bunch of people. In a situation like a classroom, when it comes to the subject, I have more to give to the students than they must give to me. When it comes to writing, I’m trained, I’ve been doing it for years. It’s more that I could give to them than they could give to me. When it comes to life however, theirs more that they can do for me than I could do for them and that’s the sort of great thing as they can show me their world. Especially when learning from a younger generation.
What’s the biggest difference between teaching domestic and international students in your experience?
For me I focus mostly on the Student parts, not what makes them domestic or international. Meaning, their 18 year olds, their lazy, not motivated, just because your international student doesn’t mean your different from any domestic student when entering university. The only difference is that international students are from another country miles away. But the challenges these international students face are obviously homesickness, language barrier, and anxiety might increase but other than that their still students in the end looking to better themselves.
What challenges do international students face in a classroom? Do students come up to you during your office hours for such matters?
The biggest challenge is fear. What I mean by that is the fear of speaking in a foreign language, it has become a number one concern, how do we alleviate that? It’s the number one fear that hold international students back and it’s causing them anxiety to be in a foreign country, especially when your in a class with domestic students who have a stronger fluency in the language such as English compared to those international students that haven’t surpassed that level of fluency. We teachers, we want to hear those international students that struggle as their afraid to answer in a classroom, lowering their confidence.
When it comes to office hours, students don’t use my office hours but I do teach coaching for SBS and CAS as they are required to come to my sessions. But the number concern still I’m struggling is how could I alleviate the international students fear of speaking another language. I think its so real. Sometimes we would tell student to go to these workshops from the division of success and spend time but it doesn’t get to the root of the problem where it doesn’t help me for tutoring.
How do to prof encourage to come to office hours optionally in general?
Teachers are human beings, and the number one thing we want to know whether you like their class or whether or not they can support you. The reason why teachers teach is because they want to help students. When your talking to 18 people at the same time it’s difficult but when your talking to a person one on one it’s easy so how we could encourage students to come to the hours is building connections with the professors and students.
What benefits and opportunities does do international students bring in the classroom?
It’s hard to quantify because there are so many like it is a different point of view, different understanding, the difference in culture. I believe in diversity because there is so much to learn with these various views as opposed to getting out of Boston to a town 20-30 mins away. What they bring is really helping to make the world the way it is. Different people, view, coming together to describe what it means to be a human being such as people from shanghai, Ivory Coast, Venezuela and learn from what they lives are like. I want domestic students, especially in Suffolk, to hear that as well because they are going to learn from that and bring it to the world as well.
It doesn’t matter where you’re from, we grow and learn to understand one another even with people overseas. There might be certain clicks between domestic and international to commune and become friends. Hopefully it would break the barrier of international and domestic students in Suffolk.
What is Lunar New Year?
Since there have been so many questions about Lunar New Year. The INTO Times has gone straight to our Peer Leadership Council to find out your most frequent questions.
By Alex Zakharau
By Panita “Elsie” Charoenpol
Alex: What is a Lunar New Year?
Elsie: Lunar New Year (LNY) is a celebration of new year but in Chinese tradition. Mostly for Southeast Asian People celebrate the LNY because of our ancestor from China according to the lunar calendar.
Alex: Why you celebrate New Year in January?
Elsie: It depends, mostly it is only in January or February. LNY begins on the date of the 2nd new moon after the winter solstice.
Alex: What is the 2nd new moon?
Elise: According to the Chinese astronomy they observe the sun positions and the moon phase.
Alex: What do you usually do for LNY?
Elsie: Traditions are different, in my house there is a tradition to celebrate the family member who passed away one day before the LNY date. However, in every household, they hand out the ‘ang pao’ which is a red envelope that is filled with money to the family members. We think that how much money we have given to other people, we will gain it back twice as much. There is also a phrase that we say before receiving the money which is “Xin jia’ yu’ei Xin ni’ Huand chai”, this means wishing you good luck and wealth.
Alex: Do you have traditional meals for this Holiday?
Elsie: It is different for every country, but in general it could be fish, noodles, Chinese New Year’s cake, Chinese pear, stuffed dough pyramid, or Thai rice flour muffin.
