I am Joëlle Nelly Reisner, an international student at Dean College in my junior year majoring in communications. I was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and grew up in the United States in Washington, D.C., for seven years and in Geneva, Switzerland, for middle years program and part of high school. Universities that welcome international students and work hard to create a culturally diverse campus environment provide students with authentic opportunities to learn about themselves and the world in which they live.
It isn't very comforting to consider being an international student traveling across the ocean to another country but on the other hand, being global allows anyone from another country to experience something new and learn something new about a culture. However, due to the pandemic, my first year of classes was all online, and the first time I was on campus was in September of 2021 because travel was impossible due to covid.
My freshman year was disappointing because I was an international student looking forward to seeing another state in the United States where my future college would be. However, I met my future roommate Meena Kasthambadi online, and she served as a guide for me as an international student, which assisted me in settling into Dean College, even though I had previously lived in the United States but not in Massachusetts.
One reason that Dean College appealed to me was the smaller class size. I appreciate that most classes usually have twenty or fewer students, and they offered my major: communications. Another advantage of Dean is that the communication program is very hands-on, as many excellent people are willing to assist you at every project stage, which has helped me improve my writing and editing skills.
The friends I have made here have helped me grow and improve as a person and content creator. There are so many professors and students I know who have supported me in improving and been there for me on the radio. Dean College is the place to be if you want a small college with a fantastic base of supporters, friends, and professors who are there for you and accept you for who you are.
Dean College has allowed me to meet new people and experience a different side of the United States. It also helped shape me into who I am today as I changed and discovered my passion for radio and writing.