The College of William and Mary boasts the prestigious reputation of being a “public Ivy” and the “Alma Mater of the Nation.” The College, though, is also the alma mater of thousands of alumni from across the globe, as well as a current home away from home for hundreds of international students, of which there were 567 on campus during the 2021-2022 year.

Hedda Gurholt ’25, an international student from Norway majoring in Finance and minoring in Philosophy, found the College through an internet search.

“Colleges in America are not that well known in Norway,” Gurholt said. “I think that most people probably haven’t heard of the school unless they work in academia.”

Executive Director of the Reves Center for International Studies and Associate Provost for International Affairs Teresa Longo explained that the Reves Center itself does not formally recruit international students. As Executive Director, Longo provides resources for the College’s five schools to distribute to international programs and requests that administrators at these schools visit international schools abroad that the Center hopes to impact. Longo also oversees the “internationalization” of the College campus and supervises global education, engagement, and programs.

In addition to the Reves Center acting as a connector for global partners, much of the Center’s work is based on its goal to “internationalize the campus,” as Eva Wong, Director of International Students, Scholars, and Programs (ISSP), explained. 

ISSP works to ensure that international students’ transition into a new space is seamless.

“How can we make things easy?” Wong said, describing the goal of the Reves Center during the process of transition. “How can we remove barriers and, in turn, then expand opportunities for as many international students who are interested in coming to William and Mary to be able to come to William and Mary?”

Making “things easy” starts with providing information to prospective students about immigration and visa applications — post-acceptance, students are connected with the ISSP office and participate in international student orientation, which not only provides incoming students with information about visa applications but also other travel considerations, like which airports to use.

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions also holds virtual panels where incoming international students can meet current international students and learn what to expect before even stepping foot on campus — this process happens over the summer, during which students are also connected with peer leaders who help make the transition from abroad to the College smoother.

Support from ISSP continues post-arrival as students purchase SIM cards, open bank accounts, and buy bedding and toiletries. The program also hosts welcome socials as well as trips to destinations like Virginia Beach to give students a chance to connect with their peers. These social opportunities are a key aspect of making international students feel welcome, especially when their home cultures differ from that of the United States.

Gurholt explained some of the cultural differences she has noticed between the U.S. and Norway. 

“In Norway, we tend to eat more seafood and have a more traditional, home-cooked approach to meals,” Gurtholt said. “The United States has a more fast-food culture. Also, in Norway, people tend to be more reserved and introverted compared to the United States. I have noticed that there are more types of everything in the U.S. — more types of food, clothes, schools, etc. I also feel like people are more welcoming in the U.S. People seem more outgoing and positive here. I have noticed that participation is more valued in the U.S. than in Norway.”

Not only is the culture between the countries different but so is the way universities are structured. 

“The campuses are really different,” Gurtholt continued. “Universities in Norway are… not as big as here. In Norway, students don’t live on campus, and the campus is almost just the school itself and not everything around. Also, we have a different school system, where students only take classes related to their major. For instance, if you are an Econ major, you only take Econ classes.”

Candice Xu ’26, an international student from China who came to the College to study Neuroscience and Computer Science on the pre-medicine track, also commented that Chinese university students only take classes in their chosen majors.

“They cannot choose their classes,” Xu said. “They are all the same classes for the freshmen and sophomores. In junior year, they kind of can choose their class[es].”

Xu has also noticed that America has a more informal, casual culture than China.

“People here are more relaxed than [in] China,” Xu said. “There, the people have a lot of things to do, and they don’t have time to just stand [t]here and communicate with you. [Here] you can talk to a lot of strangers on the street, but in China, this just can’t happen.” 

Xu also explained that students in the U.S. dress more comfortably and less formally than their counterparts in China.

Linh Huynh ’25, an international student from Vietnam and Finance major at the College, observed that this laid-back culture creates more intimate, friendly relationships, even between those who would traditionally share an imbalanced power dynamic.

“In classes back home, there is always a distance between professors and students,” Huynh said. “But here, I don’t see that much. I feel like professors can have a casual conversation with students.”

Besides commenting on cultural differences, Gurholt, Huynh, and Xu also shared what first brought them to the College.

Gurholt chose the College because she wanted to “go somewhere far from home and get a completely new experience.”

“I really like the historical aspect of the school,” Gurholt said. “I thought the campus was super pretty and that the school was very interesting.”

Huynh was also captivated by the historical charm of the College. 

“My first impression when I step[ped] on this campus [was] like, ‘Yeah, it’s very colonial,” Huynh said, adding that it felt like she had “step[ped] back in time.”

Out of the schools Huynh applied to, the College stuck out to her because of its small size. Xu was drawn to the College because of its quality of undergraduate education, good professors, and, like Huynh, small campus size. Both Huynh and Xu were encouraged to apply to the College by their college counselors.

Xu, Huynh, and Gurholt are part of the international student community that makes up 6% of the College’s student population, but international travel is a two-way street. In addition to transitioning international students to the College, the Reves Center’s work also encompasses sending students abroad, with over 750 students choosing to study abroad annually. It is through these two avenues that the Reves Center brings the College’s “internationalization” full circle.

“We also send students out into the world from William and Mary through a lot of different ways, but largely through study abroad,” Longo said. “So, when students are out in the world to study abroad, they also meet people from the places they visit. And that’s how there’s a kind of an exchange of companionship, understanding, empathy, knowledge — all of that. It’s all connected. Yes, they’re going out, they’re coming in. The ideas, the questions. None of those items exist alone. We have to be doing all of that. All of the pieces together.”