Then and Now: International Student Center celebrates 30 years of growth and service

Kishan Balgobin’s father got sick during his first year at San Diego State University, which meant his family in Mauritius, an island nation off the coast of East Africa, could no longer afford to pay for his U.S. education.

Not ready to give up, Balgobin leaned on SDSU’s International Student Center (ISC). He began working as a student assistant to help close the financial gap, and ISC staff provided advice on ways to keep him enrolled. 

Earlier this month, Balgobin flew down from the Bay Area, where he works at Apple in worldwide developer relations for audio and video partnerships, to attend the ISC's 30th anniversary.

He said he could not miss an event honoring the place that helped shape the person he is today.

“In all the personal success that I have been blessed to have, what often wasn’t said is the role of the ISC in making me who I am,” said Balgobin, who earned a computer engineering degree from SDSU in 2003 and an MBA in 2007. “Without them, I wouldn’t be here.”

More than 100 alumni, faculty, students, and staff attended the anniversary celebration, which highlighted SDSU's internationalization growth over the years and the people who pioneered those efforts.

Open the image full screen.

The ISC delivers core services to roughly 1,500 international students at SDSU,  including immigration compliance, document processing, work authorizations and academic advising. The staff has 70 years of combined experience living outside their native countries. In all, they have resided in 21 nations, ranging from Ghana to Japan, Brazil to Saudi Arabia, France to South Korea.

However, the ISC has a mission that transcends delivering core services. It strives to create a sense of belonging and community for international students, said Laura Ribitzky, an advisor who researched and archived the history of the ISC.

This ethos is on display through weekly cultural hours and annual events such as the International Peace Village. It was instilled into the ISC by international education advocates including David Neptune, Jim Nessheim, Ron Moffatt and Jane Kalionzes, said Ribitzky.

The emphasis on creating a community makes the ISC akin to a campus resource center, such as the Pride Center or Latinx Resource Center, rather than a transactional student services office, she said.

Moffatt, who passed away in 2008, spearheaded the drive to build the current ISC. He impacted the field of international education at a national level, serving as president of NAFSA, the Association of International Educators. Moffatt’s family attended the anniversary celebration as well.

“He really advanced what it means to be a global citizen,” said Noah Hansen, senior director of SDSU International Affairs. “The first time I ever heard the term global citizen was from Ron. He was at the front of many of those things.”

Open the image full screen.

When Mohammed Al-Salmi came to the U.S. from Oman in 2011, he spoke almost no English. To practice, he began attending cultural hours at the ISC. Eventually, he started working there as a peer mentor, helping international students not only with academics but also with housing, socializing or anything else they needed.

"I connected with good students, and it felt so good seeing them successful,” said Al-Salmi, who earned an engineering degree in 2017 and now works in San Diego. “Even though I have graduated, I still drop by here and say hi to people.”

Wenjun (Vivian) Jin, who spoke limited English, had a career in China before enrolling at SDSU. She found her footing through the ISC as a student assistant and member of the International Student Association, which helped organize the International Peace Village and new student orientation activities. Now she works at SDSU Career Services.

“I always call myself an ISC baby, even though I am not a baby and not young,” she said. “But I feel like without the ISC, there is no way I would have become the person I am now.”

When international students come to campus, they can feel “a lack of grounding,” said Balgobin. “You do not even know how to order coffee. Language can be a barrier. You are constantly trying to figure out who you are in this new culture.

“And the International Student Center is that grounding place, that anchor,” he continued. “They helped me through my journey at San Diego State to make sure at the end of it, I was on a path to be successful.”