{"id":71439,"date":"2016-08-24T06:39:38","date_gmt":"2016-08-24T11:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/?p=71439"},"modified":"2016-08-24T06:39:38","modified_gmt":"2016-08-24T11:39:38","slug":"international-students-welcomed-dorm-room-essentials-kits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/2016\/08\/international-students-welcomed-dorm-room-essentials-kits\/","title":{"rendered":"International students welcomed with \u201cDorm Room Essentials\u201d kits"},"content":{"rendered":"

Members from Cleveland\u2019s First Baptist Church College Ministry stepped up in a big way recently to support the arrival of Delta State\u2019s new contingent of on-campus international students.<\/span><\/p>\n

Church member Missey Hudson helped coordinate the group effort to purchase and organize what they call the \u201cDorm Room Essentials\u201d kit.<\/span><\/p>\n

The idea was presented to Hudson by an international student she met last year through the church\u2019s ongoing efforts to welcome international students.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we wanted them to be able to do after an international flight and a two-hour drive from Memphis, was to be able to go into their dorm room, have a snack, take a shower and go to bed \u2014 and not have to go to WalMart to pick up the things they need after they\u2019re exhausted and jetlagged,\u201d said Hudson. \u201cWe wanted to make sure students don\u2019t have to arrive to an empty bedroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hudson took the idea to the church\u2019s college minister, and church members came together to donate funds for the kits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was really a group effort,\u201d stressed Hudson. \u201cI had the blessing of coordinating someone else\u2019s idea and everyone else\u2019s hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n

The donations included sheets, a pillow, blanket, towel set, a planner and a small bag of snacks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Marwa Cherraf, an international student from Morocco, was thrilled to receive the welcome gift.<\/p>\n

“I was very pleased to get the basket \u2014 it meant a lot,” said\u00a0Cherraf. “There are some international students who don’t know where to go and what to get when they first arrive. This was such a nice gift because it had all the stuff we need, especially for the first couple days. It makes me feel really welcomed as a new international student at Delta State. I appreciate that people want to make sure we feel comfortable and at home.”<\/p>\n

To top it all off, Dr. Christy Riddle, executive director of International Student Services and the Student Success Center at Delta State, boxed everything together in new laundry baskets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was such a kind act from the First Baptist Church,\u201d said Riddle. \u201cIt warms our hearts that people in our community want to help welcome our international students. We have a growing international student body at Delta State, and this help will go a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hudson said the church\u2019s small act of kindness was a simple way to make the new students feel more at home.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping this idea will grow,\u201d added Hudson. \u201cInternational students are so far away from home, their friends and their family members. They\u2019re looking to Cleveland and Delta State to form those friendships and family-like connections. As members of the Cleveland community, we can all step up and welcome these folks into our homes and our lives.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Learn more about International Student Services at https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/student-success-center\/international-student-services<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Members from Cleveland\u2019s First Baptist Church College Ministry stepped up in a big way recently to support the arrival of Delta State\u2019s new contingent of on-campus international students. Church member…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":71441,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[418,296,83,1611,246],"tags":[216,586,1528,1421,252],"class_list":["post-71439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-community-3","category-facultystaff","category-international","category-student-success-center","category-students","tag-community","tag-donations","tag-dsu-international-student-services","tag-international","tag-student-success-center"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71439"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71449,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71439\/revisions\/71449"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}