Students coming to Case Western Reserve University from around the globe can start the year a little more disarranged than the rest of us. Everyone feels the chaos of the start of a new year as they begin to settle into new housing, a change in climate and the start of classes, but international students have the added confusion of being in a whole other country. Even students who have been at CWRU or the U.S. for a year or more are still living with the adjustment of a different place, language and culture.

Luckily for them, CWRU has the International Friendship Family Program. International students are matched up with school faculty, alumni, staff and friends. These matches provide another way of helping international students adjust and thrive at CWRU.

The term “friendship family” is used because students do not live with their matched family. Rather, the family becomes a friend to the student, giving them another taste of living in the United States, like having meals at the family’s house or taking local trips around Cleveland. In this way, both students and families get to experience aspects of another culture.

Applications for both interested students and friendship families can be found on online. Anyone interested in applying should make haste, as it was recommended that applications be in no later than Oct. 1. Applications can be completed and turned in (for both students and families) year-round, but matches are only made in the fall.