A panel made up of students, faculty and staff met Feb. 24 to discuss the lives of international students at Iowa State.

The panel focused on the opinions of the three students in attendance: Bohan Li, from Changsha, China; Hanxiao Hu, from Hybei Province, China; and Lea Johannsen, from Ames.

“What could lecturers do to help international students understand the lecture?” asked Newell.

“Better Wi-Fi,” said Li. He said the Internet would better help him learn English. He also said the college should assist international students academically throughout their time at Iowa State.

Hu said it was hard to get to know students, especially for new international students. She told the panel about her freshman psychology class and how scary it was to not know anyone.

“We feel lonely, shy, every feeling we have is combined together,” Hu said.

The students had advice for what professors could do to accommodate international students.

“I wish professors would find more ways to have interactions between American and international students,” said Johannsen, who studies Chinese. She said this could help students get to know each other better.

“We are all students and we are all here to learn,” Hu said.

Li said he would like to see accommodations made by professors for students observing holidays from their home country.

Facts about international students at Iowa State:

According to the Iowa State Institutional Research Fact Book:

• There were 37,732 students enrolled at Iowa State in the 2014 fall semester.
• Of those, 3,980 students from 110 countries were international students.
• The largest group consists of students from China, which, when included with students from Taiwan and Hong Kong, accounts for  1,967 of the students.
• The second largest group includes 496 enrolled Indian students.
• The third largest group includes 276 students, who are from Malaysia.