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International Students and How They Experience Moving Across the World

An athlete’s greatest wish is to keep being able to grow in their skills and to keep learning and getting better. Sometimes that means taking things to the next level, like moving to a different country to become a student-athlete in college or university.

Being a student-athlete teaches people that if you want to be successful, you must know what it means to be part of a team. College athletics helps people grow as a person, which then also helps them grow as an athlete.

Diversity is a great strength when it comes to playing sports. A team with a broad range of backgrounds has a unique chance to attain a variety of skills and perspectives to enrich the team environment, the educational experience, and their development as a team. 

Morningside University represents numerous international student-athletes who are all involved in different sports. As of right now the students of Morningside represent 27 different countries from all over the world. But how do these international students experience the switch from playing in their home country to participating in sports at Morningside? What are some of the differences and how big are these differences for them?

Ferdinando Vinti (18), Roselynn Bosman (19), and Julie Raffel (20) are three of Morningside University’s international student-athletes. They have moved across the world to keep being able to play their sport while still going to school. They talked about their experiences during the move and adjusting to the US student-athlete life. 

Ferdinando Vinti is an 18-year-old freshman from Italy who came to Morningside University to be a part of the Men’s Volleyball team. Volleyball has been a passion of his for the past seven years, and Ferdi was not ready to give up volleyball just yet. 

“Back in Italy, it’s really really difficult to study in a university and continue playing sports,” Ferdinando said. So, when he found out that he could become a student-athlete in the US and combine University and sports, he was certain that this was something that he wanted to do. 

When Ferdinando was asked about some of the biggest differences between playing sports in the US and in Italy, he immediately said the practices at 5:00 in the morning. The men’s volleyball team at Morningside practices at that time, five times a week. But even though the early mornings are tough, he does think that this can help him with his mindset. “It’s so hard to get up at 4 am, but if you have a goal, you can do it.” This is a valuable lesson that he can use in more aspects of his life. 

Ferdinando said that he doesn’t have any troubles adjusting to all the differences in the US as compared to what he was used to in Italy. He said that the differences enable him to develop new skills. “Everything is an opportunity to grow, to get better.” Ferdinando said. The way that he sees things now, being here in the US, are different from how he saw them in Italy. He’s seeing things from a different perspective.

Roselynn Bosman is a 19-year-old sophomore from the Netherlands. All her life, she has had a passion for playing soccer and she had a wish to travel the world and see new places. 

Roselynn originally wanted to take a gap year after high school to travel around the world, but covid-19 made this impossible. But, she didn’t give up and still found a solution to see and experience something new: she was going to go attend a university, and keep playing soccer as a bonus, in a different country. Roselynn said that she chose the US specifically because women’s soccer is played at a high level here. 

One of the biggest differences that Roselynn experienced when she came here was the high level of intensity when it comes to playing sports and how physical all the players are here. In the Netherlands, soccer is more technical and less physical, she said. Roselynn does like this way of playing soccer, with practice every day, lifting twice a week, and having two games a week. “In the Netherlands, we only had practice twice a week and a game on the weekend,” she said. 

Julie Raffel is a 20-year-old sophomore form Denmark. She is a part of both the soccer and the tennis team here at Morningside. Both sports have been a big part of her life since she was younger. 

Initially, it was soccer that brought Julie to the US. But also, to try something new she said. In Denmark, Julie felt like she lived in a small bubble. Everything in her life was close to home, her school, her sports clubs, and after high school she was ready to get out of there and try something different. So, she decided to come to the US to be able to keep playing sports while still attending a university. 

So, initially it was soccer that brought Julie all the way from Denmark here to Morningside. However, during her time at Morningside, Julie found out that soccer was only a fall sport. “So, what am I going to do in Spring?”, Julie thought. And then she found out that tennis is a spring sport in the US. So, for the fun of being part of something else than soccer and because of her love for tennis, she decided to try out for the team, and she made it. 

When asked about some of the biggest differences between playing tennis back home and in the US, Julie said that when she played tennis in Denmark, it was more for fun. During practices they would teach her the basics of tennis, but here they already expect her to know all of that. Julie said that the coaches at Morningside don’t really coach her on the specific basic skills of tennis, but more on doing the drill as you’re supposed to. 

Julie said that this different coaching style makes it harder for her to adjust to playing on the tennis team at Morningside. “I am more inexperienced than the others and sometimes I feel kind of frustrated when I know that I have to play on a team with someone who is way better than me.” Julie said. She said that it’s so frustrating because she does do her best, but she just has to work a little harder to the others to catch up. 

Ferdinando, Roselynn, and Julie are only a small fraction of the number of international students who attend Morningside. The experience of moving to a completely different country and being a student-athlete is different for everyone, but these shared experiences offer insight into the rewards and challenges that international students face. 

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