“Once you get to Marshall, you’re family,” she said. “We have a low point of tuition; tuition overall is not very high for international students, it’s the same as any out-of-state student.”
The small-town city feel that Huntington provides also helps.
“We’re an affordable university, we are in a small city that still has options,” she went on to say. “When you’re away from home– it doesn’t matter if you’re away from home from Logan County or Hong Kong– it’s all about how are you creating your circle of friends.”
International students also add to Marshall’s culture, Rivas said.
“You’re allowing Marshall students to access the world by giving them opportunities to make new friends, learn about different cultures, learn about diverse ways of thinking,” she said. “You can’t just take from a culture; you’ve got to give also.”
The Friendship Family program, a new program this semester, aims to supply international students with a tight community.
“Marshall faculty and staff have the opportunity to sign up to basically be a friendship family,” Rivas said. “The international students are not living with them or anything, they are just agreeing to meet at least once a month.”
Rivas also said she has let students tag along with her own family in the past. For example, some international students joined Rivas and her family as they picked up a Christmas tree for the holidays.
“I laughed at some of their expressions when they saw them tying the Christmas tree to the top of our car,” she said.
Navigating cultural differences is certainly an obstacle, whether it’s surviving your first snow storm or seeing a supermarket for the first time.
“I love taking students to Walmart for the very first time,” Rivas said. “Every time, I say, ‘I need to record this’ and I never do.”
Now, it's time to meet a few of this semester's students.
Moeka Ueura (/Mo-a-kuh/ /Ew-a-u-duh/) is a graduate student studing English as a second language at Marshall University. Ueura is from Osaka, Japan, where she describes the town as being very similar to Huntington.
"Japan doesn't have states, but we have prefects and I guess you could say that Osaka is a part of a tri-prefect area," she said.
Since being in the United States, Ueura has experienced what she describes as a much more talkative culture than what she experienced in Japan.
"Here in the United States, people talk way more. I'm always asked how my day is going or what's going on and for a while I struggled to answer because that's not something we do in Japan."
As a part of her student visa and the scholarships that she receives, Ueura is a graduate student teaching English as a second language to Japanese students in the area. Currently, she is teaching English to first graders at the West Virginia International School in Teays Valley.
"After I graduate with my masters in English, I will be staying here for another year to get a degree in education so that I can teach full time."
Following her education, Ueura said that she wants to stay in the United States and help teach English as a second language to students.
Malak Eddaoudi (/Mal-ick/ /Ed-ah-ew-de/) is a 17 year old exhange student from Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco. There are several things about Huntington that she has found very different from where she is from.
"One thing that is very different about the US is how early everything is," she said. "In my country, it is normal to eat breakfast at noon and lunch at six in the evening. Sometimes, dinner isn't until after midnight.
Since being here, one of Eddaoudi's favorite things she's done is go to a basketball game.
"When I went to my first basketball game, I was like 'Wow!' and it was so different than any sports match in my country. It was very intense, I loved it."
Salma Guennoun (/Sal-muh/ /Gwi-now-n/) came to Marshall with Eddaoudi and is 18 years old. There are some things in Huntington that are different than Morrocco, specifically the food.
"One thing about the food here that I don't like is that it's not fresh," she said. "Also, I can't find meat that I can eat here because in my religion, meat has to be prepared a very specific way so that it can be considered safe."
Ethan Kabemba (/Ee-th-an/ /Kah-beh-m-bah ) is an international exhange student from the Congo. She is a freshman from Kinshasa, the capital city. Kabemba is a freshman, and similar to Guennoun, Kabemba has struggled with the food in Huntington.
"The food here is not very fresh," she said. "It is sometimes difficult to go to Wal-Mart or to the market to get some fresh fruit, but in my country it is everywhere."
Basma Boussof (/Bah-sm-uh/ /Boo-sof/), is an exhange student from Morocco, and came to Marshall together with Eddaoudi and Guennoun as a member of the exchange program. What surprised her the most about coming to a university in the U.S. are the dorms.
"When I was brought to my dorm, I looked around and I couldn't find the bathroom," she said. "When the woman who showed me up to my dorm showed me the bathroom I was surprised that it was shared."
Coming from the Al Akhawayn University (Picture on the left courtesy of Malak Eddaoudi) to Marshall, Eddaoudi, Guennoun and Boussof have stuck together, which has helped the transition to a U.S. school.
East Hall, one of Marshall's academic buildings on campus, is a popular meeting place for international students. The Office of Intercultural Affairs resides here.
One surprising aspect of the international student program is the lack of awareness among Marshall's student body. A poll revealed that a large portion of students do not know a lot about the program.
Additionally, slightly more than half of the students polled are not interested in learning more about it.
Now, it's time to dive into a large calling-point for these students; sports.
Marshall’s international students play a huge role in the university’s success, especially when it comes to sports. Many sports teams here are led by a number of international students. To name a few, we have men’s soccer, women’s soccer, volleyball, tennis, and more. In the 2025 roster, only three out of 19 players on Marshall men’s soccer are from the U.S. In women's soccer, eight out of 22 are from the U.S. Out of the ten players on our tennis team, three are from the U.S.
Davi Edwards (Photo on the left courtesy of Davi Edwards) is a former soccer athlete here at Marshall. He is now an assistant coach for the men’s soccer team. Edwards spoke about the men’s soccer team’s success and how crucial international students are for the team.
In the team’s 2024 season, Marshall had a record of 15-2-7. “85 percent of the team are international students,” Edwards said.
“We got all the way to the final, so it was very very close to being one of the most successful teams that we’ve had here,” he said. “Soccer is the biggest sport in the world. Here in America, it may be relatively new to some of the men. Outside of here, everyone else plays soccer, so it’s always good to bring all of these cultures together."
"Even though we have guys from everywhere, we speak about eight different languages. Once we pass the ball to one another, it’s just one language: soccer."
Q&A with Beatrice Ciccarelli
Beatrice Ciccarelli (Photo on the right courtesy of Beatrice Ciccarelli) is a senior middle blocker from Bologna, Italy. She plays volleyball at Marshall and had a stellar 2024 season, being named NCAA D1 player of the week and Sun Belt Conference defensive player of the week both in the month of October.
Q: Why is volleyball important to you?
A: I grew up around volleyball. My dad has been a volleyball player for the majority of his life and he was just bringing me with him to every single tournament and game. I decided to start playing when I was 8 years old and since then I couldn’t stop, this sport gave me so much, relationships and lessons in life. I always had the support of my parents and my brother showing up for me at every game. It gave me friendships that will last a lifetime but the most impactful and amazing thing is that volleyball gave me the chance to travel across the world and come to the U.S. This experience has been teaching me and making me grow so much, I will never be enough grateful for this.
Q: Is it difficult being away from home?
A: I would say that my first semester/year it definitely was 100%. It was very scary facing a language that I didn’t know completely with people that act different from what I’m used to and just the all school and volleyball environment was very different. One thing that I have to give the credit for to my parents and best friend because they have always been here for me telling me to never give up, my mom and dad sacrificed so much for me to be here today that I have to get over my homesickness and from being scared. Now I can tell you that is not that hard anymore. I have friends all around here, coaches that care so much for us and I definitely adapted my personality more to this culture but always being myself. So it is hard because you miss your family and friends but once you realize that even from far away they are always with you and supporting you, I’m not saying that everything is amazing but for sure you feel better and make you live your life more positive and motivated.
International students not only diversify Marshall's campus, but they also provide a win-win situation for everyone in the community.
International students gain new experiences while studying in the states, and American students get a glimpse into cultures, beliefs and perspectives different from them.
Credits:
Created with images by 상우 이 - "national flags of various countries flying in the wind" • THINK b - "lot of nation flag in suny day"