NSU Horizons Fall 2006

10 horizons spotlight Graduate student Shruti Salghur has been a bit of a nomad her entire life. Her family’s homestead is in Bangalore, South India. Salghur, however, was often on the move as her father traveled to remote locations while on assignment for CARE International, a relief organization. As a girl, she spent time in Somalia, Mozambique, and Angola. After her family and other foreigners were expelled from Somalia in 1989, Salghur’s parents enrolled her in Kodaikanal International School, India’s oldest and most esteemed American- based, world-renowned coeducational boarding school. A diploma from Kodaikanal got Salghur into an environmen- tal studies program at the University of Vermont. After earning her bachelor’s degree, Salghur was not ready to return home. She made her way to South Florida with the hope of establishing a foundation for herself, one that would either sustain her if she chose to remain in the United States, or help her advance if she were to return to India. She found NSU’s H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship and enrolled in the Master of International Business Admin- istration program. In the two years she’s been here, Salghur has established a network of close friends, made important business contacts, learned the ins and outs of international business, and been named NSU’s 2005–2006 Student of the Year. Horizons : You traveled a lot growing up. Did this help you adjust to life in South Florida? Yes, definitely. At first it was overwhelming. If I hadn’t had the experience at the University of Vermont, I would not have been able to make the adjustment as quickly as I did. I was lucky, too, to get a job as a resident adviser in Vettel Residence Hall, which immersed me into the NSU culture and helped me become confident in the new setting. Horizons : What was that experience like? It was the best experience. It really gave me a taste of everything the university had to offer. Everyone should expe- rience it at one point or another. You really learn to be a supervisor, to meet deadlines, and have tons of opportunities to be active on campus. One of the difficult things was to draw the line between friendships and your job. You have to learn to say, “Hey, I’m your friend, but you messed up and I have to write you up.” But there’s also that other side of the job: You are responsible for helping to build a sense of community for the students. Horizons : I can imagine that building community would be especially impor- tant to someone with family on the other side of the world. Definitely. I did some research on the need for a support system for international students with Julieo Thompson (M.S./ HRM, 2005), whom I knew from Alpha Kappa Psi, our co-ed business fraternity. We wrote a proposal, recom- mending that a graduate assistantship be created that dedicated significant time to looking at the issues that international students face daily. The proposal was accepted, and after interviewing, I was given that position. The job was not to simply answer ques- tions, but to help build that infrastructure for international students so they have every opportunity for success. Horizons : What advice can you give to other international students considering an NSU education? At the end of the day, it’s a choice we make to be here, and it’s a choice on how we use our time here. I would say, get involved, be proud of your accomplishments, and continue to reach new heights. n Gariot P. Louima is the managing editor of Horizons magazine. Building a Foundation a World Away from Home By Gariot Louima