Cegielski 1

Makayla Cegielski

Professor Hugetz

ENGL-1302

13 April 2021

Causal/Proposal Redux

Joyride Ahead is a personal website designed to precisely encourage those associated

with tourism and travel to become more open-minded and to embrace the company of unfamiliar

settings and people. People travel all the time, regardless of distance or method of transportation,

yet most people do not realize this. Although the daily movement from locations within an

individual’s residential community go unnoticed, it is the long-distance journeys are the events

taken into account. This is due to either the trip being unexpected, or the person traveling

beginning to encounter overwhelming emotions, such as anxiety, as they are most likely about to

arrive in an unfamiliar environment. Communities hosting tourism sometimes get frustrated, and

this could be a result of one of the following incidents that occur in tourist-popular areas:

overcrowding, tourist behavior, and conflict between the tourists and locals. This website not

only encourages exploration of the world and embracing diversity, but also how to plan a trip,

behavioral tips upon arrival, and methods of welcoming newcomers. If the audience follows the

guidelines as displayed, there is a great chance that everyone will be better off. There are many

reasons for an individual to travel, however the travel life is more fulfilled by adolescents,

specifically students studying abroad. Last year, over 300,000 American students travelled

internationally to continue their studies, and approximately 1 million students from abroad came

to stud in the U.S. Trips in total, dating back to 2019 (pre-pandemic) were recorded to be 2.29

billion domestically, and 1.4 billion internationally(*). With travel nearly being a lifestyle itself,
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conflicts arise from both ends, thus calling for a solution beneficial enough to allow diversity and

exploration thrive efficiently, particularly in communities that are hosting international students.

Since numerous difficulties within studying and living that international students face is causing

a lack of social skills, financial problems, an overall diminished well-being, and low academic

performances to prevail within those students’ lives, then the schools and communities hosting

these students should begin to express their gratitude for these students studying at their schools

and in their cities in order to prevent these conflicts from becoming severe, and so these students

can move on to do better things for the world’s sake.

Social skills are crucial to academic and behavioral success, as they help the student gain

control over their own education and improve their comprehension. However, a lessening of

social skills portrayed by a student affects their ability to adapt accordingly and maintain a

successful learning experience. In 2009, Calvin Eleby conducted research in order to determine

how human behavior effects the education process, and to examine the extent at which a

relationship between social and academic skills exists. The research and experiments were

centered around the viewpoint of Burrhus Frederic Skinner, a Behavioral Psychologist who

theorized that, “learning has nothing to do with the mind; rather learning occurs within the

acquisition of new behavior” (Eleby, 3), otherwise known as the “behaviorist theory”. Eleby

confirmed through his studies that the lack of social skills that a student possesses contributes to

negative consequences within aspects of the student’s schoolwork, organization, relationships,

studies and other life skills, such as the ability to make decisions or resolve conflicts. However,

Eleby also believes that his research will provide educators with information needed to promote

efficient adjustment to academic and social expectations as students grow up. In a world like
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today, a student cannot be prepared to go into the real world independently without a strong self-

concepted character and adequate education.

Financial complications that international students face is another major difficulty

affecting international students, especially those who are independently paying for their living

expenses, and the legal regulations implemented on these students’ opportunity to study abroad

play a key role in this problem. Financial aid is very finite regarding international students. For

example, students who have come to the United States to continue their studies tend to be

ineligible for loans unless they maintain a citizenship status, or a U.S. citizen or permanent

resident of the U.S. is willing to co-sign for the loan. Loans, or financial aids are seemingly

important due to the prices of tuition fees for international students being tremendously high. For

example, a student at the University of Florida, Fangfang Gao, has recorded that the price gap of

tuition fees paid by international students and Florida residents is $630.19 per credit hour. In

addition, exchange rates between U.S and a student’s domestic currency is various depending on

the value of that student’s currency. The value of an international student’s domestic currency

could be significant in their country, however that same value could be worth nearly nothing to

an American. Therefore, if a student studying in the United States from abroad does not have

financial aid, their living and educational expenses could cost them a fortune. Many have raised

the question regarding why the student cannot apply for a part-time job, and there are legal

aspects that justify the answer. Many international students obtain F-1 visas to study in the

United States. These visas contain a limited work-permit which is applicable to campus jobs, and

a maximum work week of 20 hours. The problem with this is that some campus job opportunities

are only available to a particular group of students, thus narrowing down the job opportunities
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available to foreign students. These restrictions leave international students with very limited

viable options.

Due to the negative psychological impacts and additional stressors in the lives of

international students, their well-being will begin to eliminate contributing factors to mental

health, and cause suffering to begin. Catalina Novac, Ph.D., of George Mason University has

also conducted research to gain more insight of the state of well-being of international students.

Novac claimed that, “these students enrich our community in diverse ways. They also face the

distinctive well-being challenges of adjusting to a new culture,”(*) thus confirming that being an

international student can often have bleak consequences that impact the student’s mental health.

Students see international education as an opportunity to strengthen their character, learn the

ways of independence, and to provide their selves with better opportunities to display their skills

and knowledge. However, the downside of studying abroad means to leave a culture behind that

is familiar in exchange for an entirely different and unfamiliar environment. As students adjust to

a new culture, obstacles emerge that bring stress and anxiety regarding all the concerns, scrutiny,

and other issues.

The stressors present in a student’s life can be drastic toward their academics. IN an

article titled “Factors Affecting Students’ Academic Performances” by Irfan Mushtaq and

Shaban Nawaz Khan, a student’s performance is strongly influenced by social, psychological,

economic, environmental, and personal factors, given the fact that these factors are various

dependent on the individual and their origin. Researchers concluded their studies with evidence

that communication, the quality of the learning facility, and proper guidance propose positive

relationships with a student’s ability to perform. The results from the social experiment

conducted are more targeted towards educators and campus administration, as these aspects that
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present a positive relationship with a student’s performance correspond with the educator’s

ability to lead, and the qualification of the campus.

The challenges faced by international students when adjusting to a new culture can be

described as “culture shock”, and thankfully this is treatable and temporary. According to an

article titled “The 7 Symptoms of Culture Shock – Identifying Them and Getting Ahead of the

Problem”, the symptoms of culture shock are fatigue, hyperirritability, depression, anxiety,

feelings of being ill, negative emotions directed at the host community, and self-doubt.

Contributing factors to culture shock reside in the same factors that affect a student’s well-being

and performance. One way to resolve culture shock before it becomes too severe is to recognize

these problems and address them accordingly. Culture shock is a reaction that only the individual

experiencing this can treat in order to prevent any severity of the reaction that may come. By

doing so, the individual may also realize their ability to problem-solve, therefore creating a

domino effect that enhances the student’s abilities and skills as obstacles cross their path.

The diminishing of a student’s psychological well-being occurs during the process of

adjusting and moving from one culture to another, resulting in social and mental difficulties

presented in an international student’s life within the first few months of the change. Catalina

Novac of George Mason University, and the author of an article titled “Enhancing the Well-

Being of International Students” has suggested that orientation programs offered by host colleges

and universities for these students can aid in enhancing the adjustment process, accomplishing

both short-term and long-term goals, and providing useful resources that these students can use

to explore opportunities within their new community. There are three psychological needs that an

individual must obtain in order to maintain a sustainable well-being and life satisfaction in all

aspects: autonomy, relatedness, and competence. These needs refer to independence,

interactions, and performance. By understanding these needs and the definition of success in the

individual of concern, a strategic method can then be implemented in order to achieve these

goals and reach that level of success found in that student. These solutions will encourage

international students to embrace the college experience and engage in interactions between

friends and those available to assist them, as well as for the student to invest in their self, as these

factors are building blocks to one’s success.

Challenges of an international student include the common obstacles that adolescents and

college students face, and the additional difficulties relating to adjusting to a new culture and the

ideology of studying abroad. MSU Counselling and Health Services have come forward on this

issue by analyzing the types of problems that international students are facing and offering

resolutions in order for students to prevent being conquered by a wave of feelings and emotions

that affect their psychological and physical health. The so-called common problems that not only

the international students, but all college students experience throughout the beginning of the

semester is learning to become independent, adjusting to a new lifestyle, fulfilling requirements

at a more demanding level, develop an identity for one’s self, and expanding relationships while

exploring interests. On the other hand, the unique challenges that target students from abroad are

related to the cultural adaptation process, language barriers, navigating a foreign environment,

culture shock, changes in one’s socioeconomic status, experiencing clashes of conflict between

cross-cultural relationships and dealing with possible discrimination, and living with restrictions.

Keeping a positive attitude, despite these obstacles correlating with an international student’s

new lifestyle, aid in developing strategies to cope with these complications, and eventually

overcome them. Boosting confidence by taking small steps towards an initial goal also aids in

developing an open mind to this new culture, which can also help in embracing the college
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experience and this new discovery. Using the resources available and improving one’s

confidence and well-being through strategy will eventually become a force of habit, which is

utterly essential and crucial to the real world of adulthood. Embracing the college experience is

part of the “positive attitude” concept, and maintaining a positive attitude relieves a load of stress

and minimizes the obstacles that international students face. Putting one’s self first is a huge step

to success, as making sure a student is in check with him or herself allows that student to move

on their day and overcome the challenges a tad bit more smoothly.

Another proposal is more directed towards the host communities. International students

bring about diversity and good examples that go toward the school’s reputation. As a student

maintains self-assessments in order to ensure a positive mental state and a strong health status,

the remainder of obstacles that these students face are presented by the school. If an

administration knows about international students planning to arrive or attend their campus,

some measures need to be taken in order to ensure that these students feel welcome, and are

provided with resources and opportunities in order to engage with the college lifestyle. A great

proposal that could implement an international student’s social skills would be to place these

students with roommates that are residential, and share common interests or classes with the

student. If this were to be done, the home student could aid the international student with

navigating the campus, understanding lecture content within classes that they share, and also

build a relationship with the student by inviting them out to experience the city life. Teaching

international students to open their minds and appreciate different cultures is another step to

improving one’s social skills and enhancing the students’ comprehension of the college, the

classwork, new cultures and self-identity. With these aspects intact, success will follow shortly

after, thus letting the student know that they are ready for the real world.