University of Mississippi - Ole Miss Yearbook (Oxford, MS)

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Every year the Ole Miss campus is filled with eager students ready to start class, make new friends, unite with old ones and maybe even pencil in some extracurricular activities into the mix. With the excitement that comes with starting school, there are also changes and adaptations that have to be made. Sure, some students move miles away from home and have to manage studying and their newfound freedom along with many other things they wouldn ' t have to do while living with their parents, but in some way this idea is familiar to Americans. But what if we chose to live the college experience elsewhere, say outside the borders of the U.S.? What if the question we asked ourselves wasn ' t How do I use the washing machine, but What language am I speaking? What if it didn ' t just stop with language either but --n extended into mannerisms, College seems to consume your dress attire, rules and M lives here ... In Australia we don ' t regulations? Would we A have alumni know how to act if placed somewhere not so familiar? The best way to understand how the whole . , . . , umor, ournalism process works is to ask • ' ' - ' some of the international exchange students who have chosen to study here on campus to get a better view of what happens when cultures clash. On the first day of class, we learn our professor ' s names and whether to call them Mister or Miss or Doctor. This is a common practice in America; however, other countries are not so formal when it comes to addressing their professors. again they are separate from the university, Eferink said. University is really only your classes and major or whatever. Here in the U.S., we have grown accustomed to seeing T-shirts and sweaters that display the name of a college scrolled boldly across the front. However, a majority of international students agree that it is very unlikely that you will see students from their schools do this. It ' s kind of nice, though, seeing this, Mackander said. I mean, it shows that you have fun with it. Placing a much larger emphasis on social time while in college could become overwhelming at times for exchange students. It is possible to make friends while inside a classroom; however, it is more likely that friends are made while participating Megan Mackander ' uon L 77 in extracurricular activities. This may exert problems for international students because access to transportation is not very accommodating here in Oxford. Campus is fine because every student has to walk it daily, but what about trips to the grocery store? American students have the ability to jump in their car and drive to wherever they please while in other countries this is not the case. Even the smallest villages in Spain have a bus or train that passes at least once a day, but nothing here, Maria Miranda, an exchange student from Spain, said. American kids get cars when they are sixteen, but we don ' t need them because we just walk or get on the bus or train. So, it ' s hard for We call our teachers by their first names, Eva Eferink, us to get around when there is none of that here. exchange student from the Netherlands, said. I get confused here sometimes because I don ' t know whether to call my professor Mister or Doctor? It ' s all very formal. Our professors don ' t think anything of hanging out with us or anything, but here the professors are more formal. This is a major difference between American professors and European professors. An big emphasis is on maintaining a distant professional relationship with students, whereas European professors place an emphasis on meeting students on their level. Another thing that may be overwhelming to international students is the large variety of social clubs and intramurals offered on campus. Social clubs and sports teams are minimal and usually never associated with a university. College seems to consume your lives here, Megan Mackander, exchange student from Australia. In Australia we pretty much go to class; we go home; and that ' s it. Then when we graduate, we get a job and forget about it; we don ' t have alumni. Eva Eferink agrees that Holland is similar in the way of how the universities work as opposed to here in America. We have the sports teams but not intramurals, and I walk to Wal-Mart sometimes because the walk is not bad, but sometimes I think people look at me and think, ' What is that girl doing? ' Miranda went on to say. There is one thing that most of the exchange students agree on: Ole Miss does a very good job with extending Southern hospitality. Friendly faces with warm smiles and polite gestures have become a very pleasant and welcoming feature to them. Of course we ' re polite, but you guys go above and beyond to make sure we feel welcomed, Mackander claimed. I still feel like I hold back here, like on the way I act, because people might take me as being rude. Having different people coming from all over the world to attend American universities is a great learning experience, not just for exchange students, but also for American students. Learning how other areas of the world work broadens the minds of those who ha ' e not traveled, and it helps them to become more open minded and accepting of others. Having cultures clash here on the Ole Miss campus has only bettered our recipe by adding a dash of excitement and exoticism to our already sweet down-home flavor. The Ole Miss | OZ ' .

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: : wm tr ife ' S , . .•V %- CULTU ,rc ,rf T ; ' 1.lii - Nil Australian Megan Mackander and Eva Eferink of the Netherlands came to Ole Miss looking for a new experience, what they found became so much more than they could have ever imagined. «s • V STORY BY ALINE CARAMBAT PHOTOGRAPHY BY Mi ' CHEL JARJOURA a MH m n ■ A ■ ISIIB mum 4lk i ' WFTVM iv T and Mackander have been exploring the „... s iri order t et themselves acclimated to -this American university.

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girls iust wanna have ' i 3 of ■0) , V ■ Nothing beats getting ready with your best friends for a night out on the town, without the guys STORY BY ALEX MCDANIEL PHOTOGRAPHY BY JENNIFER MICHAELS ABOVE Katrina Mays and Chephra McKee share a mirror for the lengthy primping rituals that occur before heading out on the town. BELOW Lisa Pederson helps Katrina achieve the perfect makeup with a little assistance. OPPOSITE Emily Morrison, Carrie Cowart and Katrina rock out to the stereo to get in the mood. «