For international students, the transition to both a new school and country can be intimidating.
Indiana University has seven International Student Ambassadors from five different countries who are available for all students.
Student ambassadors have many roles on campus, some of which are leading campus tours, welcoming new students, participating in panels and providing advice from personal experience.
For Love Mali, a rising junior from India, the international student ambassadors were very helpful with the transition to IU during his first year, which inspired him to become one.
The program helped Mali get in touch with a larger portion of international students and helped him to become more outgoing, he said.
Mali suggests being open to any and every new experience when moving to IU in order to build your own community.
“I think ISA has been one of my highlights in the two years I’ve been at IU,” Mali said. “It’s so much fun.”
Each ambassador is available to answer questions online through Unibuddy about academics, campus life and adjusting to life in the U.S.
These student ambassadors can be a helpful resource before even stepping foot on campus. Sophomore student ambassador and director of the ISA, Luna da Guia Martins experienced this firsthand.
Da Guia Martins decided to go to IU after Michael Shereda and Raghvendra Singh, two international admissions counselors, visited her high school in Brazil.
“[Shereda] was so helpful, and he made me feel like even though it was such a huge university, I wasn’t just a number there,” da Guia Martins said.
Aside from introducing her to IU, the work that Shereda and Singh did also inspired her to become an ambassador for other international students.
She recommends trying to avoid putting yourself in a box and taking advantage of opportunities as an international student.
“Finding a community of international students was very very helpful because I met people that were going through the same thing as me, and that’s a big part of why I became a director for the ISA,” da Guia Martins said.
The transition was much easier than expected, and becoming an ambassador was a great way to find friends, da Guia Martins said.
Sophomore Ayalguu Unensaikhan also dealt with the transition last year. Her biggest piece of advice would be to put yourself out there by going to Welcome Week events, joining clubs, attending cultural events, and to not be afraid of starting conversations with new people, she wrote in an email.
For Unensaikhan, finding a community of other international students is what made her transition to the U.S. easier and helped her to feel less alone.
“I was definitely homesick at first, and adjusting to a new culture, education system, and daily life took time,” Unensaikhan wrote. “But as I met new people, got involved on campus, and built my own routine, Bloomington gradually started to feel like home.”
Moving across the world taught her how to be more independent, resilient and confident, she said.
For more information, ISA’s Instagram is: @iub_isa.
This story was originally published in the Indiana Daily Student's 2026 International Student Guide.
