Gladys Castanon, 21, is majoring in industrial engineering and hails from Monterrey, Mexico. Castanon received a scholarship in her native Mexico and said she was offered the opportunity to come to Memphis to study.
"I wanted to see the Southern United States," Castanon said of her decision to choose Memphis.
Castanon said she's made several friends here, mainly other international students. She said the hardest part about living here is the lack of transportation.
"You have to have a car," Castanon said. "To get around."
Ludo Muijens, 24, is studying international business in his native country, The Netherlands. Muijens attends Tilburg University and said everyone should go abroad for at least one semester while in school.
"It's a really good experience," Muijens said. "You get to experience different cultures and meet different people."
Muijens said he finds getting around to be more difficult than in his country.
"It takes one-half hour to get to Beale Street," Muijens said. "In my country it takes one-half hour to get to another country."
Muijens finds Southern hospitality to be in full force here.
"People are really nice," he said. "They are interested in where you are from."
Castanon said the language barrier has not deterred her in the classroom, but admitted it's hard to understand the Southern accent.
Besides studying hard, Castanon has visited other places.
"Graceland was amazing." Castanon said.
She recently traveled to New Orleans.
"It was really cool," she said.
Muijens also has the travel bug and is planning a trip to Miami for Spring Break.
Rebecca Laumann, director of the study abroad program at The U of M, said there are 35 students who are attending The U of M with the exchange program.
Laumann is a native of Ghana and received her MA in political science from the University of Ghana. Laumann moved to Memphis with her family and now works full time coordinating the exchange program.
Laumann said the program is linked with the International Students Exchange Program (ISEP), which has links with 110 college and universities.
Laumann said students wanting to study in the US must pass an English proficiency exam and the maximum stay for an exchange student is one year.
Laumann said the program helps students once they are here with housing, shopping, enrolling in classes and getting acquainted with their new surroundings.
"If they need help, we do our best to help them," Laumann said. "We have students from China, France, The Netherlands, Mexico, Sweden and Korea."
Anna Michenko, 27, a graduate student studying journalism from Russia, originally came to The U of M through the ISEP program.
Michenko was studying at the University of Malta where she met some American exchange students from Tennessee.
"They told me how wonderful Tennessee was," Michenko said.
While an exchange student, Michenko applied to become a degree-seeking undergraduate student and received her bachelors degree here and is now working on her master's in public relations.
Michenko said when she first came here she was surprised by the availability of material goods and said she thinks everybody is not conscious of that they have.
"The people here are so wonderful," Michenko said. "The people that I live with are like a second family."
For students who want to add some adventure to their resumes, the study abroad program has a summer curriculum that ranges from two to eight weeks.
"There are 10 countries that are available," Laumann said. "Most trips will be led by a faculty member."
Laumann also said the student receives college credit for the summer program. Not only will the student attend classes but will visit historical and cultural sites. Students will also be able to immerse themselves in the local culture by living with a family.
