Studying in a foreign country can be an overwhelming and frightening experience, but for many international students at Iowa State, the experience is fun and exciting. The question is: Why Iowa? And what do students who choose to come here plan to do when they graduate?

Kanchana Hettiarachchi, junior in civil engineering from Sri Lanka, came to Iowa State because of the scholarship he was offered — that, and “Iowa is a good place to study,” he said. “There aren’t a lot of distractions.”

Hettiarachchi comes from a city of half a million people, just 10 miles outside of the capital of Sri Lanka.

Coming from such a large city to a smaller Iowan city of about 50,000 could be less distracting. Hettiarachchi believes that studying in the United States has offered him an opportunity to learn a lot more than he would have at home.

“At home, I feel like we are fed info,” he said, “Here, we do our own research.”

Hettiarachchi encourages international students to study in the United States.

“It’s expensive, but if you can afford it, you should do it,” he said.

After Hettiarachchi graduates, he plans to eventually return home. He said it is tough for international students to get jobs here because of the tax exemptions for Americans; therefore companies hire less international students.

“You need to be the best of the best to get hired,” Hettiarachchi said. “I go to the career fair and [employers] get really excited. Then when I ask them about their policy on hiring international students, they say ‘uhhh.’”

Since the civil war in Sri Lanka ended in 2009, there is a lot of infrastructure being rebuilt and re-vamped.

“If I were to go back, I’d definitely have a job,” Hettiarachchi said.

Yeonji Park, senior in linguistics and advertising from South Korea, was living in New York City when she began looking for schools. She did not enjoy living in New York, so she decided to apply to Iowa State on a whim. She is now applying to be a graduate student here, and when she graduates she intends to return home.

“I really miss my family and friends,” she said. “And my dad really wants me to come back.”

If possible, she wants to gain experience from working and studying here in America, but does not want to work here her whole life.

Park has been learning English since middle school, but said she never really studied spoken language, which made it difficult to pick up the language right away.

“I always try to stay positive,” Park said, flashing a smile. “Some people have a hard time staying here,” she said, before going on to explain that she has a friend from China who goes home all the time, which can get expensive and time consuming.

Park says that if international students are willing to stay here, they should study here.

Bai “Ben” Haotian, senior in environmental engineering from China, came to Iowa State because, like Hettiarachchi, he was offered a scholarship. Haotian likes Iowa because of the Midwestern hospitality.

“People are willing to take the time to help you out,” Haotian said.

His research partner, Joel Sikkema, a graduate student from Canada studying for a doctorate in environmental engineering, agreed with Haotian.

“People are really quite helpful here and friendly,” he said.

Sikkema came to Iowa to study his undergraduate at Dordt College, a small private Christian college in Sioux Center, Iowa.

“Plus, I get to play hockey [in Iowa], being Canadian and all,” he said.

Sikkema said many Dordt graduates go to Iowa State for graduate school because of the engineering school’s reputation. After he graduates with his Ph.D. from Iowa State, he plans to return to Dordt to teach.

Pat Parker, assistant director of international admissions, said last semester at Iowa State about 3,300 undergraduates and 4,700 graduate international students applied for admission. Of those undergraduates, 55 percent were offered admission, and 28 percent actually came.

The ability to study here as an international student, however, is not an easy task. The application process is lengthy.

James Dorsett, director of international students and scholars at Iowa State, said that not only do international students need to be accepted to the school, they need to pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language or another comparable standardized English usage test, and be granted a student visa, which is a long application process in itself.

Of course, there are certain requirements the student must meet to qualify for the student visa. According to the Immigration and National Act, these requirements include: 1. The student must have a residence abroad, with no immediate intention of abandoning that residence; 2. They must intend to depart from the United States upon completion of the course of study; and 3. They must possess sufficient funds to pursue the proposed course of study.

The U.S. Department of State requires, as a part of the visa application process, an interview at the embassy consular section for visa applicants from age 14 to 79.

Dorsett said that during this interview with the embassy consular officer, international students must convince the consular officer they have strong enough connections to their home country and that they intend to return eventually. If the student successfully convinces the officer, they are allowed to enter the United States, go through customs and then finally arrive at Iowa State to study.