Becoming an international student is a difficult decision for students. For Marjore Bragion, a junior from Brazil, the decision to become an international student at Seton Hall seemed easy enough: she sat down, thought about what she wanted to do with her life and went online.
Bragion was an au pair in the United States for a year before starting college. "I decided to extend to my visa and go to college here in America," she said. "I always wanted to go to college here and that's how I found Seton Hall University."
Discovering the program allowed her to broaden her horizons. She was able to travel to 25 states including Hawaii, California, Alaska and Florida. The fact that English is spoken in America and the "different cultures of the people that (she) met" is what she said excited her most about being an international student.
According to Bragion, life as an international student in America is easy compared to what it is like being a student in Brazil: from mannerisms to shopping and even traveling.
Getting acclimated to America's culture was quite difficult for Bragion.
"The first year it was horrible but after that first year I did get used to it, but of course the first year is the hardest" Bragion said.
Despite the initial difficulties, some aspects of American daily life always appealed to her.
"I like how people just come up to you on the street and say ‘good morning', ‘how are you' and ‘I like your shoes," she said.
Bragion believes that not only the lifestyle in America is easier than in Brazil, but the way that college is controlled in America is simpler. She said that, in Brazil, students have to follow the schedules given to them and that in America there is more flexibility to choose your class schedule and study what you like.
"I love how small the school is and the friends that I have here," she said. "In American lifestyle it's like you work for a day and buy whatever you want, but in Brazil you have to work for about a month and then you can get what you want."
Bragion plans to graduate from Seton Hall in 2012.
Jazzmyne Morrison can be reached at jazzmyne.morrison@student.shu.edu.
