Devangana Rana: Global Transition Events

I have taken the initiative to plan Global Transition Events in my neighborhood in Urbana, IL, U.S.A. The events were set to launch in April, but unfortunately the Covid-19 pandemic has forced me to postpone these events. Below is a summary of what these events will encompass and why I wanted to start these events. 

My neighborhood is the Family and Graduate Housing for the University of Illinois. Due to this I have had the opportunity to meet people from all around the world.  It has been a unique experience having a community with people from Korea, China, Japan, Russia, Pakistan, Turkey, Afghanistan, just to name a few. I have planned a program that will help these families transition to American culture and life. These monthly events will focus on introducing these international students and their families to American culture with a different topic for each event such as American greetings, making small talk, ordering food, and additional things that they need help with. There are two main audiences in my neighborhood which I want to target in my project : international students along with their spouses, and their children. Many students come with their spouses and children to study in this university from their own countries and face a major culture shock. Additionally, many of them face language barriers which contribute to them feeling isolated and helpless. Studies have shown that these emotions take a major toll on mental health and result in them being homesick. Furthermore, many international students and their families are also uninformed about the various opportunities available to them such as healthcare, insurance, and medical care which causes them not to get the required health care when the need arises. Additionally, they can also fall into medical debt. This may cause them to feel overwhelmed and stressed.  

For international students and their spouses, I hope to host events that will inform them about various opportunities available to them, for example: insurance services, health care, after-school care for their children. I would also like to focus some of the Global-Transition events on English language learning. I want to do this because many international students don’t know of the various resources and opportunities available to them. This is often due to language barriers and lack of connections. I hope that my Global-Transition events will help solve these issues. 

Furthermore, I hope to bring in figures from around the community such as Doctors, Firefighters, Professors and Librarians that will be stakeholders in this initiative and will provide further information to participants and build a sense of community as well as connect international students with community leaders. I would also like to bring in Domestic violence advocacy groups to start a conversation around Domestic Violence and provide help to those who need it as it is a prevalent issue in my community.  

Additionally, as part of these Global-Transition events I would also like to incorporate a cultural aspect into the events to strengthen the inter-cultural bond in my community. In the events I would also like international students to bring  traditional foods from their country and share with others about their cultures and traditions. This will result in our community becoming closer and more tightly knit.

I wanted to start these programs as I myself was an international student and faced many difficulties assimilating into American culture when I immigrated to the United States. I hope that I can create positive space for international students in my community by implementing this program in my neighborhood.  

Social Media Links: Instagram & Facebook: @devangana_rana

LinkedIn: Devangana Rana - https://www.linkedin.com/in/devangana-rana-081709183/