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In-state, out-of-state and international freshman students reflect on first few weeks

Students from different backgrounds share their reactions to their different experiences from their first weeks on campus

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ASU nursing freshman Annika Laufer talks with her roommate in their dorm room in Taylor Place on ASU's Downtown Phoenix campus on Sept. 5, 2017.


ASU is made up of students of all backgrounds, and each new student on campus experiences the first few weeks at ASU differently. 

As of January 1, ASU had 71,946 students; 62.8 percent of those students are in-state residents, according to the ASU Office of Institutional Statistics.

Trey Davis, a freshman studying sports and media studies, is from Paradise Valley and said he thinks being from Arizona gives him an advantage because he already knows the Tempe campus.

“My first two weeks went smoothly," Davis said. "The campus is simple once you get to the lay of the land, and my classes have been pretty straight forward."

Davis said in the classroom, everyone has to make the same adjustments from high school to college.

“The hardest thing has definitely been adjusting to how college professors expect you to know your assignments and keep track of all your own work,” he said.



International students make up 10.6 percent of undergraduates at the university, according to the ASU Office of Institutional Statistics.

Aryan Goel, acomputer science freshman, is originally from Meerut, India. 

Goel said he did not have a hard transition being away from his family because he attended a boarding school in India for four years before coming to ASU, and any transitional bumps had nothing to do with him being an international student. 

One thing that has been different for Goel is making friends, though he said he doesn't know why.

"(Making friends) is different than it used to be in India," he said. "I can't say it's difficult, but I wouldn't say it is very easy either."

Goel said he came to ASU because he loves the program and campus, but someday hopes to return to India to work for his father.

"I've wanted to do computer science since a very young age," he said. "Ever since I was a child, I loved computers. I want to work for a year or two to get experience and then go back to India. My father owns a company, so I'm probably going to be the head of the IT department.”

Non-resident students make up about 37.2 percent of the population at ASU, according to the ASU office of institutional statistics.

Annika Laufer, a nursing freshman, from Seattle, Washington, said while her first weeks on campus have been enjoyable, she is excited to see her friends and family back home.  

"It's been nice to teach myself how to be autonomous and independent, but I do miss home, and I will go back the first chance I get," Laufer said. 

She said she thinks being from out-of-state could be an advantage when she graduates because she will have experienced "a place with different values and different people."

Laufer said when she graduates she not only wants to understand her major, but also be able to apply her major to other areas of her life. 

"I want to feel comfortable going into my field of work and want to have a sense of direction with my life beyond nursing," she said.


Reach the reporter at ajhowar6@asu.edu and follow @andrew_howard4 on Twitter.

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