The Dead and Finals Week signal the end of many things, including the Intensive English and Orientation Program, which will close Friday with a ceremony to celebrate the graduation of international students from the semester-long class.

The IEOP helps many international students adapt to life at Iowa State by improving their English language skills.

This year, about 25 IEOP students from Bulgaria, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Nicaragua, Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea will graduate from the program, said Mary Barratt, IEOP specialist in English.

The program not only helps international students with English but also helps them adjust to American culture, she said.

“We teach the foreign language skills such as grammar, reading, writing, listening and speaking,” Barratt said.

“But those are just the language skills we teach. We teach also lots of other things about living in the U.S., the culture and about being a student. We try to help the students adjust to being here and become familiar with the university culture.”

IEOP is an important experience for many international students, Barratt said, because, for many of them, it’s the first time they have regularly interacted with people from another culture, and they learn a lot from doing that.

Han Bo Reum Lee, IEOP student from South Korea, said after studying in IEOP for nine months he has gained confidence in his English-speaking abilities.

“I have not been really afraid to talk to Americans. Even when I first came to Iowa State, I was not afraid to talk to them. But my English was broken English,” Lee said. “I have learned the things that I would not have learned from reading books, such as phrasal expressions and slang.”

After the closing ceremony, many students will return home, including Hui-Hsin Liu, IEOP student from Taiwan.

“I have been studying in IEOP for almost a year,” Liu said. “I am excited about going back home. But I am also sad because I will miss the great times I had in class with my friends. I will never forget this experience.”

The IEOP closing ceremony will include student recognition, awards, entertainment, door prizes and a meal with friends and teachers.

“Sometimes, students volunteer to play musical instruments or give some other cultural performances,” Barratt said. “Also, often we see hidden talents that we didn’t know of during the semester — that’s always fun. One time, we had a group of students who sang a well-known song in several different languages.”

Although the ceremony is a celebration, the graduation of students from the program is bittersweet.

“This is always a hard time of the year because the program has always been small enough that we really get to know students pretty well,” said Larry Laursen, IEOP program assistant.

“A lot of them will continue at Iowa State; some of them will continue in the program. There are a few who are either going home or going to another school. We are happy to see them move on to what they need to do.”

He said the closing ceremony will be one more opportunity for the students to get together and to have fun.

“It’s fairly informal. The director will have some remarks. We normally have some kind of presentation or participation students take part in. It’s always fun,” he said.

The closing ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. Friday in the Pine Room of the United Collegiate Methodist Church.