Among the students enrolled at Saginaw Valley State University this year are 900 international students from 23 countries. Saudi Arabia, China and Nepal are the leading representatives.

 

One of our club members, Pat Shelley (far right), has an "in" with this foreign enrollment. He is the International Student Advisor in SVSU's Office of International and Advanced Studies and active with the 50-member International Student Club on campus.

 

So it was that at an October Rotary Club of Saginaw meeting he brought five of those students to talk about themselves and their countries.

 

-- Saher Ali from Pakistan (second from left) came dressed in native garb and brought several show and tell items. Her name means early morning.

 

-- Ashwini Pokharel (fourth from left) from Nepal is a political science major. She is from Kathmandu, known for its its temples. 

 

-- Izabella Ismailova (third from left) from Khazakhstan is a general business major. She is a top-ranked singles and doubles tennis player.

 

-- Asma Ben Amor (fifth from left) from Tunisia is in a scholarship program for engineering and loves the courses she is taking.

 

-- Paul Boursinhac (far left) from France is attending SVSU for just this semester, as a mechanical engineering student. He is already employed by a company back home that designs and crafts airplane seats. He was born in Paris and is a bicycling athlete.