With the holidays beginning, most students are packing their bags and preparing to head home. For international students, however, going home for the break is not always an option.
Vaishali Sharda, graduate student in biochemical engineering and president of the International Student Organization, said a large percentage of the international students do not have anywhere to go for the holidays.
Sharda said about 900 international students attend Auburn.
"Most of them stay in town, if not visiting their home countries or taking a vacation, and celebrate with local churches/families," Sharda said.
Originally from India, Sharda came to Auburn in January 2007.
Sharda last visited India in the summer of 2008 and is going again in December. She normally visits friends during the holidays.
For international students unable to leave school for the break, Sharda said there are events hosted by the University.
"There is a Thanksgiving dinner every year that the Office of Multicultural Affairs hosts and many internationals attend it," Sharda said. "As far as ISO is concerned, we meet every Friday, and whenever there is a holiday, we try to go with the theme."
Yebeen Lee, freshman in architecture, came to Auburn in the summer of 2009 from South Korea.
"I don't live by myself here," Lee said. "I live with my family. My father is working for Mando, which is one of the Korean companies at Opelika, so all my family is here, and my home is here."
Lee said her situation as an international student is special, though not uncommon in Auburn.
"Many international students in Auburn have a family in Auburn," Lee said. "It's different with other international students of out of this state or other countries' students."
Though her family lives in Auburn, Lee said she has many friends back home whom she misses.
Unable to go back to South Korea for the holidays until next year, Lee often travels during school breaks. She went to North Carolina in the summer of 2009 and New York in the summer of 2010.
"If we are not going, we are usually going to other states, like New York, California, Washington, D.C., or other famous places," Lee said.
Lee said she planned to study and hang out with friends for Thanksgiving break.
Suresh Sharma, Ph.D. student in civil engineering with water resources and water quality, came to the United States from Nepal in fall 2008. He has not returned home since.
"I do not have (that) problem that much," Sharma said of homesickness. "I communicate through phone."
He said being away from home did not deter him from coming to Auburn.
"I thought, 'This is the good place to live and good place to study,'" Sharma said.
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