By: Drew Roberts
The distance between Minsk, Belarus and Montevallo, Alabama is roughly 5,270 miles. One city is home to nearly 2 million people and serves as its country’s center for industry and culture. The other is a quaint college town in the middle of America’s deep south. For international student Alesia Lukashevich, both of them are home.
After seeing an ad for the Global UGrad program on social media in November of 2019, Lukashevich jumped at the opportunity to study abroad for the semester. The application process was extensive, consisting of an online application, an interview, and an English test. Lukashevich was then selected as a finalist in June 2020 with the plan of traveling to the U.S. in August of that same year. The COVID-19 virus delayed her arrival for a year.
Upon hearing that she would be going to school in small-town Alabama, Lukashevich welcomed the opportunity with open arms.
“When I first saw my placement, I was excited,” Lukashevich said. “I wanted to go to a place I would never visit as a tourist. Montevallo was perfect for that . I knew absolutely nothing about this place and I couldn’t wait to explore it.”
Magazines like Southern Living have praised Montevallo’s campus for its ancient trees and iconic brick streets. The beauty was not lost on Lukashevich. When she arrived on campus she said, “It all just felt like a movie.”
As the first week of classes arrived, the most glaring difference between Belarus and America revealed itself: education. At home, Lukashevich could expect to learn under a study plan that all other students abided by. Lectures are frequent and in-class discussions between students and teachers are uncommon.
Across the Atlantic, Montevallo touts its small class sizes as one of its main selling points. Professors often end each point by asking if the class understood it. Lukasevich caught on very quickly to the American style of learning.
“In general, I would say the American system is less stressful and more engaging,” she said. “I enjoyed studying in the US much more than I do back home.”
American college, at least in the way the media portrays it, is a haven for young adults trying to figure out their lives. After the restrictive nature of high school, many find it to be a breath of fresh air. When asked if she felt that she had an authentic college experience, Lukashevich dismissed the idea.
“I probably didn’t have a stereotypical college experience but I never really planned to do it,” she said. “I genuinely enjoyed every day I spent in Montevallo and would never change it to something else.”
Lukashevich mentioned two cultural differences that surprised her the most. The first was the abundance of people wearing shorts and flip flops, even in cold weather. The other was the ice cream machine in her dorm.
“I can not even describe how surprised I was to see an ice-cream making machine in the dorm,” she said. “I had no idea they existed.”
These cultural differences didn’t come without challenges. Day to day interactions that Americans have become used to became unfamiliar territory for Lukashevich. Talking to a cashier and going to class became a source of stress.
“The biggest challenge to my mind was to understand the culture,” she said. “A new environment makes you question every single step you take. For some time, I was constantly afraid to do or say something inappropriate, but it was getting better over time.”
Lukasevich visited 6 states while in America. Out of all the diverse locales, she crowned a road trip through the Great Smoky Mountains as the highlight of her stay, describing it as “‘the U.S. experience’ I wanted to have. [Breathtaking] views, friends around…what else do you need?”
Of course, an experience like this doesn’t appear out of thin air. It has to be planned. The man behind that planning is Dr. Eric Travis, assistant professor of management and coordinator of international affairs and international education at UM. Similarly to Lukashevich, Travis first heard of the Global UGrad program online. Travis later contacted the admissions office to see what could be arranged, and they agreed upon out-of-state tuition waivers for the students.
Montevallo ended up with 5 international students in the fall. When asked how he was able to get so many students to come to a relatively unknown school, Travis found it was best to showcase Montevallo’s strengths.
“I tried to emphasize that we were a smaller campus, that the students would get more one on one attention, that we’re a safe location, that we’re a teaching-oriented school,” he said. “The cost, basically, because we do have a cost advantage compared to a lot of the places students are going across the country, especially with that tuition reduction.”
When the students did arrive on campus, Travis wanted to make sure that they recieved the type of college experience Lukashevich previously described. He found that Montevallo’s welcoming atmosphere lended itself well to international students.
“It helped to have students here who are also kind of taking them under their wing and being very receptive,” he said. “That’s kind of one of the things that Montevallo had going for it. We do have a good student body that I was pretty sure, and it did happen, would welcome them in.”
Montevallo has four more international students this semester, and the program shows no signs of slowing down. Though, the future of international programs are unpredictable, Travis is optimistic.
“We are hoping that our relationship, the way we treat the students that come here, the experiences that they have, will continue getting students assigned to us,” he said.
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