After returning from my semester abroad in Seville, Spain, I was having some major European withdrawal. From the strangely wide roads to easily understanding pretty much everyone I talked to, culture shock set in for me. I missed so much about my life in Spain, but nothing quite as much as the culturally diverse and varied group of friends I made there.
So, as I returned to DePaul for winter quarter, I was determined to find a community that offered something like this same diversity in Chicago. This turned out to be easier than I had originally thought, and as I tried to think of a theme for this blog post, it occurred to me that there are probably many people who, like me, want to become involved in DePaul’s international community, but are not quite sure how to.
For this reason, I have decided to use this post to highlight three central organizations to get anyone in this situation started.
Collaborative for Multilingual Writing and Research (CMWR)
Not knowing much at all about DePaul’s international community, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to join CMWR at The UCWbL. In my first few days on the team, I was already learning about a sizable and interesting community of people I had never before been exposed to. Through events and programming, CMWR supports the many EAL learners here at DePaul, as well as creates more opportunities for connection with DePaul’s international community.
For those who do work at The DePaul Writing Center and are interested in becoming involved in the international community, I highly recommend joining CMWR. But even if you do not work at the writing center, or are just not able to join the team, events are open to all DePaul students! Coming to one of our Walk and Talks or Conversation and Cultures can be a great way to learn about other cultures and form valuable connections.
And although for me CMWR was a great first step, it was only one part of a large network of communities that I discovered upon my quest.
DePaul Global Engagement and International Student and Scholar Services (ISS)
The next organization I became involved with was DePaul’s Global Engagement, and, through it, ISS. Global Engagement is pretty visible at DePaul as it is the organization in charge of study abroad trips, but what people may not know about is ISS.
ISS is an organization focused on creating a community for international students at DePaul by helping them connect with one another as well as to the city of Chicago. To accomplish this goal, they set up and run several events each month which include different themes and social outings, such as BonAppetite in which you go out for a multicultural meal, or ISS’s Global Coffee Hour, my personal favorite.
The first event I went to was one of their Global Coffee Hours. This was an amazing experience and a great way for any student of DePaul to meet members of our international community. Global Coffee Hour is a round robin event that focuses on a central theme such as Leadership, Summer in Chicago, or Conflict Resolution. These themes provide structure to the social atmosphere, but the real goal of these events is to form friendships with other DePaul students.
The organizers of the event encourage participants to exchange numbers with at least one other person over the hour and a half period that the event takes place. I can say from personal experience that Global Engagement and ISS do an excellent job of fostering these connections, and I look forward to seeing the friends I have made at each of the events.
All of these organizations are great ways I’ve discovered to connect with DePaul’s diverse international community, and I’m sure as I keep exploring I’ll find even more. If you are at all interested in creating international friendships, come to some events, give it a try, and you will be astounded by how naturally friendships begin to form.