Welcome Package and Informative Presentation
During my three and a half years at USC Salkehatchie, I have seen many international students, especially Jamaicans struggle financially. Paying tuition, rent, buying foods, clothes, and paying other fees are extremely difficult for international students. This is difficult because of the fact they have to pay out of pocket and have no financial assistant such as Financial Aid. I too had difficulties and currently still struggling financially. All international players received a partial soccer scholarship. Most of us grab at the first opportunity we get to come to the United States and fail to think about the disadvantages we will face. I can feel their pain knowing some international students are struggling just to have a good meal. With these emotions, I would like to create a welcome package for all international students, but mostly soccer players since most of the international student play soccer. This welcome package will better educate international students on topics like scholarships and grants, USC Salkehatchie, and emergency contacts (Police, ambulance, fire). I was not fortunate enough to have gotten the chance to apply for again scholarships or grants, simply because I didn't know I could have applied for them. None of the international students that I have met since I have been at USC Salkehatchie didn't know either. Emergency contacts are essential in emergency cases. Many international students have little or no interest in emergency contacts because it's not one of the critical aspects when coming to a better-developed country. I wish to educate the upcoming international players to apply for these grants and scholarships so that it can at least take some of the financial pressure off their hands. This way more international students can enjoy college rather than thinking that they will only start enjoying America once they get college out the way and start working. I can talk from experience; most international students focus more on tuition than their school work because failure to pay their tuition will result in a significant loss. Their visa will be canceled once they are not registered for classes and now they have no option but to return home which is a difficult idea to digest.
As part of my job, as Assistant Soccer Coach, I am responsible for recruiting international players. It feels great when I recruit an international player, but if he/she doesn’t have the financial background to support him/herself, then I could be putting that player in a more difficult situation. To reduce the international players that come to the United States with no knowledge of scholarships and grants, USC Salkehatchie, and emergency contacts, I will ensure that each player gets a welcome package. It took me three years to finally get this information for myself. If it weren't for my speech class that gave me the confidence I now possess, then I wouldn’t be able to talk to professors and more knowledgeable people in which I spoke with to know this information. I intend to inform both upcoming international students and current international students at USC Salkehatchie. I aim to give a public presentation to the international students that are here already and provide a welcome package for those of whom are planning to come. I will first do some more research so that I am more confident in what I am saying. My professor, Mr. Siren, once told me, “The more information, a person knows about a topic, then the more confident he or she sounds. The more confident a person sounds then, the more he or she can get the audience to listen.” This is precisely what I hope to achieve. After I have done sufficient research and have my information organize, I will set a presentation date and invite all international student. I can use an empty classroom as the location. Once the setting is ready for my presentation, I will inform each student of the benefits we are missing out on. My key insight which talks about “you” will help me here. Instead of saying to each student that “you didn’t know this, or you didn’t know that, or you didn’t do this or that”, I would just make the presentation be an informative one. That way I would be informing them rather than blaming them for not knowing. By doing this, each student will be more inclined to accept what I am presenting rather than thinking I am acting like I am more intelligent than they are.
For the upcoming international players, I will use the same information I gathered and make their welcome package. These welcome packages would be slightly different from the presentation. The welcome package would have each topic thoroughly covered so that the upcoming students can understand and see the importance of the message. I will use my key insight here again to help me by eliminating the word “you”. For example, Not all international students will feel they need an extra scholarship because they might think people would see them as being poor. Not all international students won’t know about USC Salkehatchie. Some students wouldn’t decide to go to a college without looking into the school. Not all international students don’t know the emergency contacts. Some might have known all the emergency contacts already because safety is a key factor. Therefore, these students might take offense if I say, “You need to seek and apply for more scholarships or grants because it will reduce your tuition. Read more for details.” or “You need to research about USC Salkehatchie so that you can know what to expect before you come. Read more for details.” or “You need to know all the emergency contacts because you are responsible for yourself. Read more for details.” These students might think I am calling them poor, or stupid for going to a college they haven't researched, or that they are irresponsible. I could now use the lessons I learned in Dr. David Hatch’s class and my job experiences to rewrite these sentences to fit a much larger audience if not all. These statements are as follows: “If a player wishes to seek and apply for scholarships and grants, then read below for more details.” or “We recommend players research about USC Salkehatchie to know about the school in advance. Read below for more details.” or “Here’s a list of all the emergency contacts in and around USC Salkehatchie.”
Evaluation
At the end of each semester, all international student should have a meeting where they discuss the scholarships and grants they have received and from whom. This will inform each student if they didn’t know. I will know if my plan is successful by seeing how many international students are getting additionals scholarships and grants. The Head Coach of the soccer team will continue to educate international players. I hope to learn from that plan, the love and joy of helping people and keep helping people as I move forward. I also hope that more students can appreciate what the welcome package did for them and inspire them to indulge in similar activities.