The TCU Magazine
The first few weeks that Anh Mai Pham was on campus was like a honeymoon.
“I loved the campus, and all the food,” said Pham, a senior accounting major from Vietnam. “I got the chance to eat as much pizza as I want, and I was totally free from home and my family.” But a month later she was feeling alone.
“I was have difficulty with the language and cultural differences,” she said. “I wasn’t confident enough to ask my American friends for help.”
Phuong Diep was feeling much the same way. Also from Vietnam, she remembered going into the elevator of her dorm, Milton-Daniel, and freezing in place when she realized she didn’t know how to operate the elevator and get to her floor. “The elevator was very different from the ones in my native country,” said Diep, a biochemistry major. “I just stood there for 10 minutes. I was reluctant to ask people for help — a lot of international students are like that.”
So this year Pham and Diep decided to team up and create a new program called Beyond Boundaries that eases the transition of new international students by pairing them with faculty and staffers willing to serve as mentors. But it’s not just about learning about America, the program also aims to foster cultural exchanges that can enrich all participants and the greater TCU campus.
The voluntary program is kicking off this semester with about 60 students and a similar number of faculty/staffers. According to the Office of Institutional Research. TCU has about 400 undergraduate international students, including about 70 incoming freshmen. While the program will include some organized events, participants are encouraged to meet each month for one-on-one chats and to share cultural experiences.
“Teachers aren’t just the ones who teach students how to be successful in the classroom and make A's in their subject,” Pham says. “They are the ones who help students to grow, to get better everyday.”
Faculty and staff who have signed up as mentors are: Rhiannon Gwenllian Mayne, Kathryn Hopper, Melissa Schroeder, Sohyun Lee, Katie Knable, Komla Aggor, Helge Alsleben, David Cooper, Robin Ann Wright, Cynthia Chapa, Dede Williams, Jeremy Albers, Gloria B. Solomon, Jeremy Albers, Mary Janelle Davila, Kindra Santamaria, Beatriz Gutierrez, Mary Beth Grayson, Aisha Torrey-Sawyer and Leo Nicolao.
Also David Allen Bedford, Joe Ann May, Mary Kathleen Baldwin, John Householder, Janice Elliott, Benjamin Crenshaw, Michael D Russel, Carolyn S Rowell, Ashley Edwards, Timeka Gordon, Paula G. Hancock, Karla O'Donald, Jennifer Zettler, Anthony Walker, Phil Hartman, Kay Higgins, Jason Eagar, Hanan Hammad, Amy De La Rosa, Antonio Sanchez and Jill Deramus.
Others are Kent Chapline, Mary Beth Grayson, Mary Ruth Jones, Vanessa Miller, Lynn Cole, Mica Bibb, Rita Nakashima Brock, Carrie Liu Currier, Paula Yoder, Brett Phillips, Mark Muller, Margaret A. Faust, Melissa Bettis, Arthur J. Ehlmann, Maleta Hill, Nancy Chu, Jesse Rangel, Nadia Lahutsky, Kanika Nevers, Victoria Herrera, Laurel Merchant, Giridhar Akkaraju, Carolyn Spence Cagle, Coleman Baker, Amber Esping, Sue Anderson, Beata Jones, Sarah R. Robbins and Arthur B. Busbey.
