Friendship Family Program
The Friendship Family Program is an opportunity for Centre’s international students to meet with American families from the local community. During the summer you will be paired with a family from the Danville community based on responses to a questionnaire. The pairings are designed to be a very informal, relaxed relationship that gives each participant he opportunity to learn about another culture. Your friendship family may invite you to activities and holiday celebrations that will provide you the chance to learn about their way of life in the US.
There are many things you can do to develop a good relationship with your friendship family.
Make and respond to phone calls and invitations.
Spend time either on or off-campus with your host family on a regular basis.
Share your perspectives and ideas with your host family.
Be open to ideas, activities, styles, and customs of your host.
Your friendship family may invite you to church or other religious gatherings. You may choose to attend religious gatherings or not. You should not feel pressured to do so, but if you do attend please be respectful of their customs.
Centre at Home
Acclimating to Centre’s academic and social settings is something that nearly all international students struggle with. One of the best ways to prepare them for this acclimation is to meet (in person) with fellow international students who have already experienced those challenges. To this end, “Centre at Home” was created. Centre will fund meet-and-greet dinner events in a few large cities each summer. At those events, a few upper-class international students from the area will meet the incoming first-years and share their experiences and advice about the challenges of beginning a college career in a foreign country.
The “Centre at Home” dinners will not only serve as welcoming events but will also allow new students to get to know older Centre students and some of their fellow first-years, as well as encouraging them to learn more about life at Centre while still in the “comfort zone” of their own country. This will enable them to truly focus on the advice given to them without struggling with jetlag and the overwhelming nature of the first few days of orientation.
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ISOL Mentor Program
Each first-year international student is paired with an upperclassman from Centre College to be your International Student Orientation Leader (ISOL) during the summer and a mentor during the fall term of your first year at Centre.
The mentor/mentee relationship is an informal one, but invaluable as well. These students have been at Centre for more than a year and have a better understanding of the academic and social structures of the college and will be a great resource for you in regards to understanding classroom etiquette, social situations, meeting new friends, and adjusting to life at Centre.
We will expect you to meet with your mentor at least once every two weeks. Usually students will meet for lunch in the dining hall to fulfill this requirement. Please make the most of this relationship. The mentor program is one of our more successful acculturation and adjustment initiatives, but only if you are willing to reach out and build that relationship.
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International Student Association
The ISA pledges ongoing efforts to empower and support international students as well as to provide the Centre Community with an opportunity to acknowledge, interact with, and learn about different cultures represented in our community. ISA strives to cultivate an inclusive, welcoming, respectful community for all Centre students.
The membership in the ISA is open to the any member of Centre Community. All members of the Centre Community are welcomed into the ISA, regardless of skin color, race, age, ethnicities, nationalities, gender identities, sexual orientations, religious affiliations, political affiliations, socioeconomic status, veteran status, backgrounds, viewpoints, and experiences.
Holiday/Break
Academic semesters are typically broken up by small, scheduled breaks at the middle and end of each semester. These are usually one-week breaks where most students will leave campus to travel, visit family and friends, or go home if it is logistically possible.
Our international students often travel for days to arrive on campus and because of this we do not require international students to leave the campus during these breaks. However, there is limited dining and social services because the breaks are a time where college activities slow and most faculty and many staff leave.
The ISS office will host some activities and provide opportunities for students to get off campus during these breaks. Trips to regional cities such as Cincinnati, Nashville, Louisville, and Lexington may be provided. Other activities have included transportation to the bowling alley, movie theater, and roller-skating rinks.