By Heather Taddonio

On the first day of Customs Week, 364 first-year students sat crowded elbow-to-elbow on the stage of the newly-renovated Goodhart Auditorium to be officially welcomed to the College by Dean of Admissions Jenny Rickard. As she usually does in her well-known welcome speech, Rickard listed off interesting tidbits and facts about the class of 2013. Although it was not surprising to learn that, for the third year in a row, the most common first and middle names in the incoming class are “Sarah” and “Elizabeth,” the class of 2013 brings with it an entirely new statistic: it boasts being Bryn Mawr’s most international class yet.

With students representing 28 countries, 21% of the class of 2013 holds a citizenship other than US and 16% are foreign nationals without US citizenship. “This is the most international class ever on all of those metrics,” Rickard says.

As for why 2013’s international statistics are so staggering, Rickard says that it “may be related to the global economy” or “more international students considering study in the United States and valuing a US liberal arts education.” She notes that Bryn Mawr has long been known for its “global reach” and that Admissions has seen a significant increase in the number of international applicants over the years. “So,” she says, “the increase seems like a natural result of that.”

Malina Toza, a first-year student from Călăraşi, Romania, seems to agree with Rickard on the value of studying in a country other than one’s own. “I’d wanted to study abroad since I was little,” she says. “I had always been fascinated and impressed with the opportunities that a United States education can provide.”

Because of the large influx of international students, the College is working to continue to improve resources provided for international students such as International Student Orientation, or ISO. In an effort to expand programs as a result of the large number of international students, ISO itself was redesigned to include early-arrival meetings with Assistant Dean and Director of International Programs Theresa Cann, field trips, and “family farewell” get-togethers.

Also part of the ISO program is the International Friendship Project, which provides new and current international students with local contacts in the area. Bryn Mawr faculty, staff, and alumnae serve as host families for students, providing them with support throughout the year and “offer[ing] them a taste of American home life,” Cann says. This program helps to make sure each student receives individual attention throughout the year.

“We did not want the unprecedented large number [of international students] to overwhelm anyone to the point where they feel lost or ‘fall through the cracks,’” Cann says.

Toza says that ISO is “a good support system” that helped her to become adjusted during her first few weeks in the United States. “They guide us through everything—they greeted us at the airport when we first arrived, took us into Philadelphia, helped us with paperwork and made sure we had everything we needed.”

So far Toza’s childhood expectations of studying abroad in the United States seem to have been met. “I have friends now from India, Pakistan, China…people I wouldn’t have otherwise met,” she says.

Toza explains that having a large contingent of international students and US students interacting helps to break down cultural barriers and preconceived notions. Though the class of 2013 is undoubtedly distinct in its unprecedented international statistics, its effect on both US students and international students studying at Bryn Mawr will be even more meaningful.

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