International freshmen experience life in the states

Home Sports Homepage - Sports International freshmen experience life in the states
International freshmen experience life in the states
Print
10 international students join Charger athletics from all corners of the world.

 

The first weeks of college can be an adjustment. Now, imagine if you had never lived in the United States before. A small cross-section of the class of 2020 found themselves in this situation, while also entering the world of collegiate athletics.

This fall, Hillsdale College welcomed five international student athletes: Katie Bell, Daniel Capek, Julien Clouette, Milan Mirkovic, and George Roberts.

Bell hails from Portsmouth, England, and is a member of the women’s tennis team, while Clouette — Montreal, Canada — and Mirkovic — Split, Croatia — became two of the newest members of the men’s tennis team. Capek, native to Sladkovskeho, Czech Republic, became a thrower on the track and field team, while Roberts shipped his sticks across the pond from Hampshire, England, to join the men of Hillsdale golf.

Although starting college in a brand new country has presented challenges for each athlete, all five mentioned being struck by people’s willingness to help them adjust.

“So far, my favorite part about Hillsdale is just the people,” Mirkovic said. “Everybody has been nice and helps you out. Back in Croatia, you meet all sorts of people that are not very pleasant to meet. Here, everybody is so nice and polite.”

For Capek, Clouette, and Mirkovic, part of the transition includes switching their primary tongue to one other than their native — Czech, French, and Croatian, respectively. All three said they learned much of their english through social media, television, and video games. When speaking to the men, however, this is hardly noticeable.

“In Canada, we learn English a little bit from the beginning to learn some words,” Clouette said. “I learned them most by watching TV, though. In classes, you learn rules and grammar, but you don’t learn to listen and speak it.”

Now that the athletes are on campus, they have all officially become part of a team, which is something that may be taken for granted by those familiar with American high school sports. Bell, Capek, Clouette, Mirkovic, and Roberts, however, have spent the majority of their competitive careers competing individually.

“Back home, I played lots of individual and singles competitions,” Bell said. “I had a few team events for my county, which were really fun. Mostly, though, it’s just individual events.”

Each athlete expressed excitement over this new-found camaraderie.

“It’s not just me out there. I am relying on — putting effort in for — the team,” Roberts said. “Instead of travelling half an hour down the road, now I get to travel five or six hours down the road with my team. You’re playing with a bunch of guys that want it. There is no slacking.”

While this interpersonal drive is important on the field, it’s also important in the classroom. Bell, Mirkovic, and Roberts spent recent years studying extremely specialized subjects. For Bell and Mirkovic, it was the hard sciences, while Roberts studied mathmatics. With this in mind, the liberal arts education provided by Hillsdale is an obvious change of pace, although something each was impressed by.

“In the UK, I was put in math courses and I would have finished with math,” Roberts said. “Over here, I am learning more religion and heritage. It is going to be interesting for sure.”

The five have, to no surprise, had some cultural adjustments to make. Roberts said he was shocked by the size of the portions, quipping that he couldn’t believe “the small cup was the size of our large,” regarding a recent trip to Wendy’s. Bell added she was was taken back by how confident and outgoing her peers seemed.

Mirkovic said the religious and political atmosphere is something that contrasts what he is used to.

“In Croatia, there are religious people, but it not as important as it is here,” he said. “It is the same with politics. Those are just minor things though.”

Although these members of the 2020 class come from different corners of the world, they arrive with a common goal: “Better myself.”

“Everyone is here with something to do. Everybody is focused,” Roberts said. “A lot of people want something out of this, which is good to be a part of.”