LEAH GRAZIANO
Special to The Leader
Take a coffee break with Fredonia’s international students.
Fredonia students came together for coffee, cookies and conversation on Sept. 12, in the Williams Center S226B, or the Global Connections Lounge.
Alex Phillips, a graduate student in the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages program (TESOL), is in charge of the weekly gathering.
“I love Coffee Break because it’s a great way for international students to connect with the American population on campus and vice versa,” said Phillips.
These events are for all students to come in and meet new friends while enjoying a free cup of coffee, hot chocolate or tea.
You can also find other events with International Student Services (ISS) posted around the Global Connections Lounge.
Another event the club puts on is Conversation Club.
Run by Phillips, Conversation Club is a way for international students to practice their English.
The first meeting will be on Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. in the Global Connections Lounge with pizza and drinks provided.
International students can attend these other events with their “buddy” as part of the International Buddy Program.
The International Buddy Program is a way for international students to pair up with an American student mentor during the semester. It is sponsored by the ISS office.
Transfer student from Niigata University in Japan, Misato Ohashi, was one of the many attendees at Coffee Break. Ohashi is in her first year as an English major at Fredonia.
“I was just surprised as to how many events you have here at Fredonia. Like, movie night,” she said.
“It’s impossible to have activities at night in Japan because Japan is too strict. Here is more open for the students.”
Coffee Break was founded by the assistant director of ISS, Jacob Czelusta.
“We started this our first semester, Fall of 2014, and we’ve been doing it every Wednesday since that time,” he said.
Czelusta started Coffee Break as a way to have international students meet new people and to relax outside of their studies.
“We usually have 20-25 students that come every week. Some people even just pop by and just grab coffee and leave, which is fine, too,” Czelusta said.
“We try to have this just as a way to maintain contact with students, too. Create a sense of community.”
Konatsu Matsuoka, a sophomore music industry major, is also an international student from Japan.
“I think for international students or for American students, too, we can meet new people like, you know, each of us have a different major or background like from Korea, China, Japan and we can make more friends during this event,” she said.
Matsuoka said that one event that stands out the most to her was an international dinner she went to.
“We danced to Korean songs and my future job that I want to do is bring Asian music to [the U.S.] or bring American music to Asian countries.”
Many of the international students said that the one aspect of Fredonia they enjoyed were the people.
“I made a lot of nice friends in class so that was out of my expectations. That’s one of the things that I feel really happy about so far. Everyone is so friendly and nice. Even professors,” said Sammi Chueh, a transfer student from Fredonia’s sister school, Shih Hsin University in Taiwan.
She is studying communications during the Fall 2018 semester.
“People are so nice to me. Also yeah, my advisors, too, and my buddy and professors,” said Ohashi.
Coffee Break will take place every Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.