Q&A: How an HCC International Student Ambassador welcomes classmates from abroad

Each week, “Pop Quiz” features an interview with a member of Greater Houston’s education community. To suggest someone we should interview with an interesting story to tell, email us at education@houstonlanding.org.

Meet the interviewee

As hundreds of Houston Community College international students filed into the school’s central campus for orientation last week, Paulina Rizk acted as traffic control. She answered questions, checked them in for the mandatory event and ushered them into the auditorium.

HCC enrolled the most international students of any community college in the country during the 2023-24 school year, with roughly 3,600 students from 128 countries. After moving across the world, they find comfort in International Student Ambassadors like Rizk, an HCC student studying business administration. 

In the role, she helps guide other international students through college and the confusing processes that come with it — including visas, routine paperwork and registering for classes. She provides information, shares her own experiences, organizes academic and social events, and connects people with others from their home region. It helps that she speaks four languages: English, Spanish, Arabic and Russian.

With the spring semester kicking off next week, Rizk has been busy welcoming a new group of students to HCC. The Landing spoke with her about how she is building community on campus.

The interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

You’re from Ukraine and Lebanon. What brought you to Houston and HCC?

I’ve been on this journey for about a year now. I came last year to Houston, and I’ve been in HCC ever since. The journey for me was actually very tremendous to get here. It was like a roller coaster, to be honest. I learned about HCC through my cousin, because he’s two years older than me, and he’s about to finish HCC right now. He told me that this has a good program for international students, to get your transcripts ready so you can have a smooth transition to university. … And it is cheaper, as well, to start off. 

It was a long way to go to the U.S., because my whole family lives in Lebanon right now. You know, there was the conflict with Israel when all this was happening, and because of this, I was being told by the American Embassy that my interview for my visa was being postponed. The date for my interview was May 2025. It was like, “No way, I need to start school.” And so I actually contacted other countries, so I could maybe travel and go to their embassy, which I did. I went to Cyprus, which is an island right off Lebanon. It’s Greek and Turkish. I went to the embassy there, stayed one week there alone, went and did all my stuff, got my visa, and came back. Then after like three weeks, I left for the U.S. So it was a crazy journey.

How do you build community as an international student ambassador?

My impact was really getting people to know what we are. Because I remember when I first came, I didn’t know a lot of things, especially that there were international groups. I didn’t know that there was a (group chat) that you can connect with students. I didn’t know that, and someone actually informed me about that. I think that was one of the most helpful things, because we always talk on there, and people always help each other out. Like when I didn’t know how to do an American bank account, for example. I didn’t know I was allowed to do that. In fact, I didn’t know I was allowed to go to an American bank and open an account. But an international student told me, “Yeah, you can do this. These are the steps.” … So I went the next day and did all my paperwork. 

People need to know it’s OK to ask questions. Because some people are scared. I know some international students, they don’t speak that good of English, for example, and they sometimes get confused. They get like, “I was told to go here,” or “I don’t know what to do.” You need to support each other in those types of things. I think that really helped me — communication is really important.

How do you spread the word about ambassadors throughout the college?

When we came back from summer, we actually did a ‘who are we’ (event). We did it on every campus. We got some pizza, some food, some music, some games. And we actually conducted these mini fairs, so people could come and see what the international student program is about. And we did have QR codes so they can sign up to our emails and stuff, to know what we’re doing.

What drew you to take on this role?

I want to lead and show people what they can really do in HCC. And I want to also inform people. I think I have that ability to round out people at the same time, and really get them to know what HCC is about. And it’s just fun. I like to put myself out there. I like to engage with students, and I really like to make the community feel like a better place, like we’re all family, basically, because people are coming from a lot of different places, and they do not have their family around them. 

Like for me, I’m alone here, and (the community) just made me feel like more at home, in a sense, because I know people who are also from countries I’ve been to, or countries I’ve studied in. So it was such a nice community to make within the students, and I feel like that really brought together why I wanted to be an ambassador.

You mentioned navigating this alone without family, and that has to be a very difficult, yet very common, experience for international students.

I know some students who are in the same bubble as me, that we do not have anyone (here). But there’s also some international students who have their parents or siblings. So sometimes it’s nice to talk to people because you don’t know what they have to offer, like maybe they could help you in something. Like I’ve met people who’ve helped me get a job.

You don’t want to feel isolated, especially in a country where you don’t know a lot of people and a lot of things, because everything’s new to you, and it was overwhelming. But that sense of like, “Oh, I know I have an international body at my school that can actually help me.”

What advice do you have to international students who are just starting out this week?

I would say, don’t be afraid. People will help you. That’s our job, as an international ambassador, that’s our job. We’re here to assist you because we know everything, we’ve been through everything, and we know your struggle, we know your pain, and we know your frustration. So you can come to us. But the thing is, you have to ask questions. You can’t be afraid, because I know you’re somewhere new and you don’t have a lot of people around you, but you need to trust and trust in the process, but also trust in the people who are trying to help you. 

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. I think that’s the most important thing. Because you’re there, you’re paying for your education. You need to invest in it in a proper way. Don’t be scared to ask.

Miranda Dunlap covers Houston’s community colleges in partnership with Open Campus. Despite roughly half of Houston’s higher-education students attending community colleges, there hasn’t been much news covering these systems or students — until now. Her reporting holds institutions accountable, highlights barriers faced by students and helps them navigate their opportunities. Reach Miranda at miranda@houstonlanding.org or on Twitter and Instagram.

The post Q&A: How an HCC International Student Ambassador welcomes classmates from abroad appeared first on Houston Landing.