Erin Horst
Published: October 1, 2008

DUBUQUE – Second year Loras Student, Abhishek Agarwal is directing a play for the Loras Players. Second year Loras Student, Christian Helmholz is the president of L.I.S.A., the Loras Intercultural Students. Senior Loras Student, Bibek Thakuri is a Resident Assistant for Binz.

These three students are involved in a variety of different campus activities, but they all have one thing in common. They don’t call the United States home.

“Still we are so diverse, our personalities, and our involvements, and our priorities are
Different,” adds Helmholz.

These different interests mean you can find them nearly anywhere on campus.

“A lot of international students here at Loras are very involved in different things in campus. You can almost see at least one international student in one of the clubs and organizations, having a representation out there,” said Thakuri.

And that is something these students take pride in.

“Half of the student senators for the first year are international students, and on a ratio, domestic student’s verses international students, it’s like ten percent,” adds Helmholz.

Although the culture is very different, these three, along with many other international students are not afraid to step out of their element.

“It wasn’t exactly difficult for me to break the transition period and say, you know, I can’t do this, I’m an international student, what are other people going to think? No. It was pretty easy,” adds Agarwal.

It was easy enough for him to step right into a directing role with the Loras Players.

“I love theatre. So I joined it, and people were very open, very welcoming,” adds Agarwal.

Luisa Jimenez is a first year at Loras, and found the campus community to be very friendly.

“If you want to get involved you can get involved in anything you want,” said Jimenez.

Whether its student senate, being an RA, or acting with the Loras Players one thing is certain, there is something for everyone at Loras, whether you are international student or not.

Erin Horst can be reached at Erin.Horst@lctv13.com