Doha Graduate Welcomed with Open Arms at Temple University
By Bruce E. Beans
Samantha Lopez For 19 years old, Samantha Lopez has seen a lot of the world. Thanks to her father, an aeronautical engineer, the Venezuela native and graduate of the American School of Doha has lived on five continents and in six countries: Venezuela, the United States, France, Nigeria, Yemen and Qatar.
Yet when she first arrived at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
last summer, the prospect of being away from her family and friends for four years scared the psychology major. Those concerns, however, evaporated once she settled into Temple’s Global Living Learning Community, in which international students and U.S. students live together and take a take a one credit cross-cultural communication course.
“I was concerned about not knowing any international students or anyone
who understood what it feels like to move to a new country,” she recalls. “But everyone here understands how hard it is to move thousands of miles away from home. And every one of us has an American roommate, who really helps us get around campus and Philadelphia.”
Her roommate, a sophomore business major from suburban Philadelphia, is also a student campus tour guide. She gave Lopez a private tour of Temple and advice about living on her own. “I’m very thankful,” Lopez says. ”She’s been like a mother.”
Her father, who attended Ohio State University, wanted her to attend an American university, and her high school counselor in Doha helped her select Temple, which has a large, strong psychology program.
“I wanted to attend a large research university with a city campus that was close to other big cities on the East Coast of the United States,” explains Lopez. “My classes are very enriching as well as challenging.” Ever since she took her first International Baccalaureate psychology class and volunteered at a program for children with mental and physical disabilities in Doha, Lopez has been interested in psychology. Wanting to become either a psychiatrist or a therapist, at Temple she plans to complete all required pre-med science courses as well as earn her psychology degree. “Temple offers an enormous amount of classes I can take to reach my goal,” she says.
Adds Lopez, who for a semester anchored the university’s daily Spanish-language TV news brief broadcast, “Outside the classroom is also fun. It’s very easy to meet people and make friends.” Samantha’s friends include students from America, Germany, France, Russia, South Korean, Japan, China and Taiwan. Her advice to other international students considering Temple: “Expect to be welcomed with open arms. Temple is a very large and diverse university with lots of majors to choose from, and great people.”
