Blessing Malunga

Students in attendance of the ISO call out meeting.

The International Student Organization, or ISO, had a call out meeting on Tuesday January 30th, 2024. This was held in Clare Hall, room 146. 

This meeting was held for international students and American students to gather together. This was the first meeting of the year. It is used to determine how many people are interested in the ISO club and to explain the purpose of the club.

This club was created last semester with the intention of becoming a space for international students to interact with one another and learn about different cultures.

According to Silvan, President of The ISO, there are around 130 international students with an F1 and J1 international visa at Marian. “The International Student Organization’s goal is to create an environment that makes living in the United States easier for the International Students,” said Silvan. 

According to Silvan,  the turnout for the meeting was great. There were 15 to 20 people at the meeting.

“I hope for there to be more culture awareness and for international students to communicate about their experiences of being away from their families,” says Silvan.

This organization plans to have events where they have speakers to motivate and relate to the students. They are planning to introduce the, “Tandem,” app as a resource for students, a language exchange app. The app is used to create more diversity in language speaking among the students.