12/14: Winter Break Care Packages
On Saturday, December 14th, we delivered 16 care packages to the 16 students who filled out our survey stating that they will be on campus during the Winter Break. Our packages included traditional items such as bags of tea, socks, snacks & non-perishable foods, vitamins, and board games. In collaboration with MinCo, we also provided each student with a $50 Visa gift card; we hoped the cards would help students mitigate the expenses associated with food purchases over the break!
12/8: Self-Care Night
The Board organized a self-care night on Sunday, December 8th from 7-8:30 pm for all students to take a break from studying for the finals and indulge in face masks, teas, body lotions, and many sweets & chocolates.
11/30: Wholesome International Dinner
A few of our board members organized a lovely dinner on Saturday, November 30th in Dodd Kitchen for all students who stayed on campus during the Thanksgiving break. It was indeed a wholesome event during which students cooked and shared foods from their home countries. This event was sponsored by MinCo.
11/20: Coffee Hours-Chocolate Celebration
In collaboration with the International Education & Study Away Office, the ISA held the second coffee hours of the semester on Wednesday, November 20th between 4-6 pm in Goodrich Hall. We shared a table full of chocolates and $300-worth of drinks in Goodrich Bar for those preparing for (or already working on) the second round of midterms. Thank you to everyone-more than 150 students-who attended the event!
10/31: Collaboration with the International Student Initiatives Strategic Planning Group
The ISA Board members met with representatives of the International Student Initiatives (ISI) group to discuss issues that the international students’ community faces at Williams, as well as how ISI might assist us in addressing these concerns. The Board brought up problems that affect many international students in many ways, including insufficient storage allocations over breaks, the lack of English as a secondary language support system, unmet international student wellbeing needs, transportation issues, and need-aware admissions for international students. We have to say that our concerns were met with understanding and fervent desire to change the situation for the better. We drafted these and other demands in an official document and forwarded them to the ISI group who promised to address and include them in the strategic planning guidelines later in the year.
10/26: Movie Screening during Family Days
Although the crowd was small, we had a nice time watching Hunt for the Wilderpeople and sharing snacks in Griffin 7 during Family Days weekend. 🙂
10/9: Coffee Hours
We held the first coffee hours of the semester on Wednesday, October 9th between 4-6 pm in Goodrich Hall. Wild Oats cookies and Goodrich drinks on us were all consumed within an hour of opening – stay on the lookout for more events like this in the future!
9/28: Frosh Night
On Saturday, September 28th, the ISA organized an event specifically aimed at helping first-year international students build a community on campus. We were excited to see many first-years, their friends, and IOLs show up at 7:30 pm in Hardy House where we had a wonderful time making & eating over 50 crepes (!!) and playing board games.
9/14: Welcome (Back) Lunch
To kick off the year, the ISA hosted a Welcome (Back) Lunch in Dodd Dining Hall on Saturday, September 14th with catered food from Spice Root and The Log. Over 100 community members gathered to see their old friends, meet international students of the Class of 2023, and share some delicious food.