International student athletes navigate new teams, culture challenges
By Morgan Corner
Imagine traveling thousands of miles away from everything you know - your family, your friends, your home - to live in a new country and attend college.
All of this, just for the opportunity to play the sport you love.
It’s a sacrifice that hundreds of student athletes choose every year. The chance to play a sport while also getting an education in America is often worth it.
For Emilia Von Glahn, a senior at the College of Charleston on the golf team, the opportunity to get a degree while training was the point.
“I want to come here, get a degree, and at the same time play my sport.,” she said. “And then I can always decide if I want to turn pro or not but at least I have a degree and like, don’t lose time.”
At the College of Charleston, more than 350 athletes representing 26 different countries play across 19 varsity sports teams.
Djordje Curcic, a senior guard for the men's basketball team, hails from Čačak, Serbia. Back at home, basketball was more of a job for him.
“The culture is a little bit different because back home it’s more professional than here. Here, the coach is trying to make us really feel like we are part of the family,” Curcic said.
It can also be challenging with there being a language barrier, sometimes they have trouble saying what they mean.
“I'm sitting here and I'm like, I have an easy time talking, but I still feel like I sometimes have a hard time expressing what I actually feel,” said Von Glahn. “I just came here without ever being in America. It was scary.”
Although these international athletes bring new perspectives to the United States, they admit it can be an adjustment existing in a different lifestyle and culture than what they’re used to.
Rosa Brenĉiĉ of Ljubljana, Slovenia is a junior volleyball player and she remembers being homesick for awhile after coming to the College.
Coming here from another continent was quite the adjustment, being that she didn’t have many of the comforts from home that she was used to.
“You walk past a food truck and you're like, ‘Gosh, I wish I could have my mom's cooking,’ or something from back home,” Brenĉiĉ said.
Von Glahn has also noticed little differences in her day to day life.
“It's tiny things. We have different ways of doing things — how the dishwasher works, the washing machine, just tiny things in life where you're like, ‘Wow, this is weird,’” Von Glahn said. “Driving is different, too. You guys are allowed to turn right on a red light, right? I would go to jail at home if I did that.”
Many athletes are too far to travel over breaks or have meets or games when the College does have breaks so they are unable to go home and be with the people they love over certain holidays or throughout major parts of the year.
“I think it's just the little things that remind us that we're not where we grew up. We're not always surrounded by people that we love,” Brenĉiĉ said.
At the same time, many families of other student athletes take in international teammates.
“Their parents come to all the games and even the parents kind of adopt you as their own kid for a little bit which is super nice because we do miss that a lot,” Brenĉiĉ said.
Not having your main support system and family members can be very difficult at times, especially when certain holidays or traditions are coming up for these athletes, but the volleyball team at CofC has an amazing camaraderie and treats all of the members with kindness and respect.
“I do think this school is super nice. All the girls are nice,” Brenĉiĉ said. “We live with each other, we go to practice together, we're around each other all the time.”
Von Glahn had a similar experience with her golf teammates.
“They honestly made it very easy for me. I never had a struggle adapting when it comes to the people around me,” she said.
Djordje has also spoken on the troubles he has been having away from home. “... being away from home, sometimes you have to figure out everything by yourself. There’s no mom or dad to help you or anybody or friends,” he said.
Along with all of the shifting and adjusting that these athletes are doing, they have had to change their mindset from an individuality standpoint to a teamwork and collaboration point of view.
Another one of the sports at CofC would be the equestrian team. Almost everyone on the equestrian team is from the United States, but sophomore Kenda Murray is from Vancouver, British Columbia.
Before coming to the College of Charleston, equestrian riding was an individual sport. Once she became a part of a college team, all of that changed.
“I’ve never had to be on a team before… I can kind of see more how, even in the individual sense, it’s still about the community and stuff,” she said, explaining that in NCAA equestrian riding, individual performances are judged and scores are added up in a team score.
“So, it was really interesting and different. It was definitely an adjustment, learning how to have it not just be affecting myself, but my team as a whole.”
However, this isn’t just Murray.
Golf is also very much an individual sport that becomes a team effort in NCAA competition. Von Glahn also had to learn how to adjust to a new team in a new country.
“The team atmosphere is different here — the way you literally grind your ass off for somebody that is not yourself,” she said.
Being part of a team has taught her to see and work with other people around her.
“You represent a little more than just yourself, which comes with a lot of responsibility,” Von Glahn said.
Being partially responsible for her entire team (coaches included) and their end result has put certain amounts of pressure on her.
“For him [her coach] to bring me all the way from Germany and pay for me, I want to play good to show him, you know, it's worth it to put money into me,” she stated.
She holds herself to a high standard as an athlete so her teammates and coaches can always count on her. While it might be nerve wracking to be a big part of the reason for how the entire team does, Von Glahn always rises to the occasion.
“If you don't play good, it matters for the team and not only for you. Sometimes it can be scary.”
No matter where someone comes from, why they’re going somewhere new, or who they are as a person, leaving anywhere is hard.
These inspiring international athletes have done very scary, new things to continue playing the sport they love at a very high level.
They have brought their culture, learned new culture, learned new mindsets, and above all, are still in school, playing their sport, and meeting new people.
While it can be a struggle with the language barrier, not seeing family, and the everyday differences, all of these athletes have adjusted and are living their life to the fullest.
“I know that I belong here.”
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