Pitt Johnstown Mag Summer 2010 ver4 - Pitt-Johnstown Home Page ...

Pitt-Johnstown:
International
Destination
6
The face of the Pitt-Johnstown campus is changing thanks to an increased effort to
attract international students. In just three years, Pitt-Johnstown has gone from
enrolling one international student to enrolling 35. The 2009-2010 academic year
marked another milestone, with more than 20 countries being represented on
campus. Students are bringing their experiences, talents, and knowledge from
countries including Cameroon, China, Czech Republic, Ghana, Haiti, India, Nigeria,
Rwanda, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Needless to say, the Pitt-Johnstown Office of
International Services has been quite busy!
Meet International Students: Polina
Valitova and Ulrich Meffert
Polina Valitova: Life-changing Move
to a Whole New World
It’s been seven years now since
Polina moved to the United States.
She was born in Volgograd, Russia in
1991. She has been all over her native
country, but she spent most of her life
in four places: Tolyatti, Russia, an
industrial city known for the
manufacture of Lada automobiles;
Siberia, which she remembers fondly
because the people she encountered
there were so sincere and kind; and
Gallitzin and Davidsville in
Pennsylvania.
Polina’s mother, a Russian citizen,
met her husband, now Polina’s
stepfather, online. After meeting, he
traveled to Russia and soon came to
know the people who are now his
family. When the new family decided
to move to the United States, Polina
was 11 years old and reluctant to
PITT-Johnstown
leave behind her school and friends.
Nevertheless, her family undertook
the 13-hour flight to America, flying
from Moscow to Helsinki, Finland,
and then from Helsinki to New York.
An education major who will be a
sophomore, Polina wants to teach
foreign languages because it
complements her interests in
diversity, in meeting new people, and
in learning about different cultures.
She studied English for two years
prior to coming to America and is
open to learning new languages,
stressing the fact that she can already
speak a little Spanish and French and
that she really wants to learn
Chinese. Polina has a little sister now
named Karina. She and her mother
are teaching her sister Russian, while
her stepfather works on English with
Karina.
Polina said, “I picked Pitt-
Johnstown because it is a great school,
and it is close to my home, so I can
commute.” She is currently a workstudy
student in the International
Services office, a job for which she is
ideally suited. She has made lots of
friends, as she is social and outgoing,
but notes that her social experiences
revolve around projects not parties.
When asked if she noticed any
differences between the people in
Russia and the United States, she
commented, “In Russia, no one hides
their feelings, so if it is a bad day, that
is what you will see, but what I love
about America is the fact that people
smile and try to show enthusiasm
even when it does not reflect what
they feel on the inside, which is
socially infectious.”
Her family stays in touch with
their relatives online by sharing
photographs and stories, but Polina
wants to return someday to see her
family and friends back in her home
country.