As a foreigner, there are many times that I get asked, not "why did you choose Miami University?" But "why the United States?" It feels as many Americans downplay the American school system. You might say it is bad and that I should have gone to a European university, but I could not disagree more. If there is one country, one place where universities truly let you be who you are and take it as far as you possibly can, the United States is the only place (that I know) that will let you.
For those who don’t know me personally, I was born in Sweden. I lived in Europe (various parts) for the majority of my life. I have only been in the United States for a little over five years now. My college application process was not the same as most of yours. Instead of applying to only universities in the US, I applied to universities all over the world (except Australia, because my parents made it clear they wouldn't not pay for tuition if I moved to the other side of the world). Being Swedish, there was an extensive pressure on going back to Sweden for college; the Swedish Universities are great and since I hold a Swedish passport, it would also be free for me. But this was not what I wanted to college experience to be.
I love Europe and parts of me miss it every single day, but would I have wanted to go to college there? Never. As cliché as this will sound, I wanted the American college experience. The one everyone talks about, the one that makes people from all over the world come and want to go to school here! No one mentions this enough, but us international students are extremely grateful to be going to school in the US. Why else would we pick it? I chose from schools almost all over the world as many other international students, but I still picked the US.
Both of my older siblings went to school here, too. My brother attended the Ross School of Business in Michigan and my sister attended Endicott College in Massachusetts. At the time when they were applying, we still lived in Europe, but they made the same decision as I did. They also knew (and of course influenced me) that if there was a place you could go to school and make it, it was here. My brother is now a trader on Wall Street and my sister received a great marketing opportunity in Switzerland, which is where she is currently living. Without having gone to school in the US, this would not have been possible for them.
Going to school here has been amazing for me so far, I went through sorority recruitment and am now in Pi Beta Phi. I figured I can’t have the American experience without Greek life!
So next time you think of complaining about the American school system, or anything like that in general, just remember, you are going to school in a nation that literally everyone in the whole world wants to go to. Even if international students can be bothersome at times, we are thankful to be here, and we chose your nation over staying in our home country.
