Holi is an ancient Hindu religious celebration known as the "festival of colors," in which people throw colored powder on each other to mark the arrival of spring.
For international students who are new to Texas A&M University, there is much to learn and discover about the Aggie and American way of life—namely new customs, traditions, manners and norms. Omid Kazemi '15 has a few questions and luckily he’s in the right place for answers on a breezy April afternoon: an end-of-the-year picnic at Texas A&M University’s Spence Park sponsored by the Aggie International Ambassadors.
“How do you rent a car?” asks the 22-year-old Iran native who is earning his master’s degree in construction management. He needs to travel to Houston for a summer internship interview. The other students at the picnic table offer advice ranging from explaining the requirements of car rental companies to suggesting carpool sharing as alternative transportation.
Then comes a more pressing question: How do you throw a football? “I could kick it with my foot,” says Kazemi, wearing a red Budweiser T-shirt with headphones wrapped around his neck. “But throw it…I don’t know.”
“Don’t worry,” says Kelsey Ffrench '15, a sophomore international studies major from Houston and the new president of the International Ambassadors. “It’s not that hard. I’ll teach you.
Cultural Liaison on Campus
This kind of teaching is part of the mission of the Aggie International Ambassadors. Formed in 2002 to bring more global awareness to the Texas A&M campus, the group is made up of 20 to 30 American and international students. Its members are often service-minded individuals who are interested in learning more about other cultures; foreign born students usually join to learn how to better integrate into their new setting. The ambassadors say the blend of American and international members benefits both groups.
“In other organizations on campus, the international students will be mostly with other international students,” said Elani Duzich '14, a Corpus Christi native who graduated in the spring and studied for a year in France. “A lot of people studying abroad tend to stick to people they’re comfortable with. We get them out of their comfort zone if they’re willing to be part of our group. The campus is becoming more global, and this is our way of encouraging that shift.”
The ambassadors see themselves as liaisons between cultures, sponsoring activities and events that introduce international students to American traditions—such as a tailgating party during football season, where students get their faces painted with Texas A&M emblems and learn the inimitable ways of Aggie football. “It’s good [for Texas A&M students] to have our own identity and to have our own crazy things to do,” said Kazemi, over the clanking and grinding of construction on nearby Kyle Field. “It brings people together.”
Also popular is a fall pumpkin-carving event. “I had to Google, ‘pumpkin carving’ beforehand to find out what was going to happen,” laughed Johnu George '14, from Kerala, India, who completed his master’s degree in computer science in May and now works at Cisco in Silicon Valley. George said the group helped him find friends beyond his classes and major and gave him a whole new way to enjoy college—like a native.
Other elements of the ambassadors’ work include symposiums via Skype with counterparts at other universities (such as a discussion with students at the University of Kurdistan on whether the Americanization of the world is a good thing) and celebrating the rich traditions of other cultures. “In the U.S. you have your usual holidays,” said Alexis Silvestre '17, a sophomore from Brownsville. “But if you’re tied into, say, 10 cultures, there are many more fun events.” The ambassadors point out that they celebrate New Year’s three times a year, and one of their favorite events is Holi, an ancient Hindu religious celebration known as “the festival of colors,” in which people playfully throw colored powder on each other to mark the arrival of spring.
Study Abroad Supplement
“I didn’t have friends who were interested in international events, so I joined this group,” said Ffrench. “Now if there’s something going on—like a prayer vigil for protesters in Venezuela—we can go as a group and it’s not intimidating.”
Ffrench and other ambassadors have studied abroad, and they consider their involvement with the group a supplement to that experience. It could even be an alternative. “People spend a lot of money to study overseas and that’s really valuable. You learn that the world is different than you think,” she said. “But not everyone can travel and there are chances to broaden your thinking right here on campus.”
Later on at the picnic, Kamezi gets instruction on football passing and plays a pick-up game with other students. Afterward he comes back under the gazebo, sweaty but smiling. “It was Internationals versus Americans. Guess who won?” he asks as he grabs a wedge of watermelon. “But it was fun!”
By Jeannie Ralston
This article was originally published in the summer 2014 issue of Spirit magazine.
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