For the international students who come to study at Elon University, one thing is clear: Establishing yourself in a new environment so many miles away from home is challenging. Many international students experience anxiety after temporarily leaving behind languages, cultures and families that shape their identities. Becoming familiar with the multifaceted aspects of college life can be a lot to juggle. For more than a decade, the Elon Local Friends Program has been helping to lessen the distance from home for many of these students.
Elon Local Friends is a group of Burlington and Elon residents who are united under the banner of making Elon’s international students feel at home. From organizing gatherings, sending Valentine’s Day goodie bags, cooking authentic Thanksgiving meals and hosting apple-bobbing contests, the group has planned a variety of activities for international students to attend for the past twelve years.
Marj Bennett and Anne Smith, two Elon residents, pioneered the initiative and formed the group in the fall of 2003.
“The first thing we had to do was make it clear to Elon what our purpose and intention was,” Bennett said. “We were not there to spread any religion. We were there because we wanted to meet international students and create a community for them outside Elon University. Once we established that trust, the program really took off.”
Bennett, who has spent the majority of her life in various countries around the world, said she and Smith understand the challenges that come with sending your child thousands of miles away.
“[My children] were definitely nervous about coming back to study in the United States, especially because they had been abroad for so long, Bennett said. “But people opened their homes to them and helped them adjust once they got there, and that really made a difference.”
Margaret Gurd, who began volunteering with the program from its early stages, says she had no trouble jumping on board.
“My mother would contact the dean in our local college for the names of students [who could not] visit their families during Thanksgiving,” Gurd said. “When I heard that Marj was going to be doing this, I knew I wanted to join.”
Through acts like these, her family became especially close with a student who stayed at their home from Thailand. Gurd recalled dropping the young woman off at the airport and bidding her goodbye as one of her own.
With approximately 50 volunteers and more than 60 regularly attending international students, the group has been rapidly expanding since its inception. And the group’s growth has helped foster bonds in the international community in addition to Elon’s local community.
Donna Harwood, the current leader of the program, is looking forward to welcoming the new international students and has already set dates for six activities. To mix things up, the group started this year with a new initiative: welcoming the parents of incoming international students when they arrive at Elon.
“We truly enjoy spending time with the students and learning about their different experiences,” Donna’s husband Ralph Harwood said. “We’re definitely thinking about expanding on our events. There are a lot of things that happen throughout the year like the Carousel Festival in October, all kinds of art and food exhibits, and it would be great to explore them with the international students,” he said.
Junior Ameya Benegal from Singapore said he always enjoys attending activities initiated by the group not only because it strengthens the international student community but also the amount of care and interest that is put in by every member.
“One of the things I love about the Local Friends is that they sincerely want to know who you are, where you’re from and what your culture is,” Benegal said. “They’re not just asking questions. They’re genuinely interested.”
Benegal added the bonds he has formed have allowed him to form a deeper understanding of holidays celebrated in the United States.
“When the campus completely emptied for last Thanksgiving, I was fortunate enough to be invited to the home of [one of the families I met through the program]. We get a lot of these holidays off, but many of them, like Thanksgiving, are uniquely American holidays. So it really meant a lot to get the chance to actually experience one the way the holiday is experienced [here] and share it with other people,” he said.
Senior Le To, from Vietnam, who has established connections with Local Friends from her first year, said these bonds have transformed holidays and events that, for many international students, only meant feeling homesick.
“I truly feel like the Local Friends are my family in the United States. Thanks to them, I feel more at home, especially during special occasions when most families are together like move-in day, parents weekend and Thanksgiving,” To said. “Elon international students and the Elon community in general are so lucky to have the group, and we can never be thankful enough.”
Bennett encourages international students to continue forming connections with Local Friends and to welcome the new and returning students to attend the various activities planned.
“The relationships we create are beneficial in the ways we learn about different cultures, and at the same time, international students are shown that there is more than one kind of American,” Bennett said.