International students connect during Maverick Stampede
As part of Maverick Stampede, The University of Texas at Arlington’s official kickoff to the academic year, the Office of International Education hosted Global Maverick Welcome.
The event is an opportunity for international students to meet current Mavericks and explore student organizations, resource offices, and campus departments. Representatives from Arlington Public Libraries, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and Academic Health were also available to answer students’ questions about the transition to college life abroad.
Among the attendees were freshmen Hiya Kavalanekar and Sherley Sawant, who are majoring in computer engineering and business, respectively. The two previously met each other at a MavsMeet in Mumbai, India.
Kavalanekar said she’s always known she wanted to study in America.
“I had been to United States five or six years ago and I was deeply fascinated by everything here, so I decided that I want to study here,” she said. “I chose UTA because they offered me quite a lot of scholarships. The computer engineering ranking for this university is also pretty good, so that’s another reason I picked it.”
Sawant said she came to Global Maverick Welcome to meet more people.
“I want to explore all parts of campus—I want to go to all of the events and explore to the max,” she said. “I want to just enjoy my time.”
Rifa Rahman, Anika Rahman and Rubavet Rahman are all from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Rubavet, a freshman electrical engineering major, followed her older sister Rifa, a junior information systems major, to UTA.
“My sister definitely played a part in influencing me where to go, but I just knew I wanted to be abroad to study,” said Rubavet.
Anika and Rifa met at a similar event to Global Maverick Welcome when they first started at UTA a couple years ago. They said going to these types of events are the best way to meet people and make new friends.