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Shreya came to the US from Nepal and got a fully-funded master's in biology, with an assistantship covering her tuition, all from one cold email to a professor. No consultancy, no agency fees, no education loan. She did the entire process herself, the kind of process others pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for.

In this episode she breaks down exactly how she did it: how to research programs and cold-email professors the right way, how the assistantship funded her degree, how to handle admissions yourself without paying an agency, how to write a strong grad school essay, how to build credit as an international student, and how she turned 600 job applications into 3 offers and a tech career in the US, including the resume details that made her stand out.

If you're an international student dreaming of grad school in the US, this is the practical, step-by-step guide most people never get.

She also points everyone to EducationUSA, the free U.S. government resource, so you never have to pay a consultancy.

CHAPTERS

0:00 The Cold Email That Changed Everything
4:34 How the Assistantship Funded Her Master's
10:19 Doing Admissions Herself, No Consultancy
14:49 How to Write a Strong Grad School Essay
20:31 Building Credit as an International Student
26:44 The Job Search: 600 Applications, 3 Offers
35:47 Resume Tips That Made Her Stand Out

Made by an international student, for international students, your practical and emotional guide to not just survive, but thrive.

New episodes every week. Subscribe and let's get into it, and if this resonated, share it with someone chasing their own path.

TikTok - @ISEPodcast
Instagram - @ise.podcast

Guest: Shreya Tiktok - @Shreyadoesthings2025

Also on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & Amazon Music :

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5yV9JNNRRF4fBvKw5QETNC?si=748189437f0d40dc 

Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/international-student-experience-podcast/id1848975904 

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/651c6036-c2bb-4b72-81aa-3cdb5bbbf530/international-student-experience-podcast?ref=dm_sh_uP8jNQZVZvBRkNmQBWf1qwIp7

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1333-international-student-exp-302843551

#InternationalStudents #GradSchool #FullyFunded #StudyInTheUSA #Scholarships #InternationalStudentExperience #Podcast

Support the show

🎙 International Student Experience

We share real stories from international students who have lived this journey
before you — so your path can be easier.

Every guest opens up about what they wish someone had told them. The mistakes they made. The lessons they learned the hard way. The wisdom they gained from navigating life, education, careers, and identity in the United States.

If you are an international student or about to become one — these conversations exist to make your journey lighter, clearer, and a little less lonely.

You don't have to figure it all out alone. Learn from those who have
already walked this path.

Watch full video episodes on YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/@InternationalStudentExperiece

Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | iHeartRadio

Have a story to share or want to be a guest? Email us at
[email protected]

Follow us: Instagram: @ise.podcast TIKTOK : @ise.podcast

YouTube: International Student Experience

Subscribe for new episodes every week

If this episode helped you, share it with another international student who 
needs to hear it. We are still not reaching enough International students, please help us reach to more people by reviewing the podcast and sharing with other International studen...

Send us Fan Mail

When Sakunit moved to America at 15, the scariest part wasn't the flight or the language. It was making a single friend. She had a whole life and close friends back in Thailand, and when she got here she didn't even know how to reply when people talked to her, the context was just different.

This is her story of going from painfully shy and completely alone to finding her people, and herself. She talks about the loneliness no one warns you about, learning to love and respect herself, and how that changed everything, eventually leading a club and learning that the way to connect is simply to be yourself.

If you've ever felt invisible in a new place, this one is for you. You're not the only one, and it does get better.

Made by an international student, for international students, your practical and emotional guide to not just survive, but thrive.

⏱ Chapters:
0:00 Moving to America at 15 and How to Make Friends
6:11 Finding Confidence and Learning to Love Herself
11:19 Joining a Club and Becoming a Leader
17:34 Feeling at Home in Two Cultures

Made by an international student, for international students, your practical and emotional guide to not just survive, but thrive.

New episodes every week. Subscribe and let's get into it, and if this resonated, share it with someone chasing their own path.

Also on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music & iHeartRadio
TikTok - @ISEPodcast
Instagram - @ise.podcast

#InternationalStudents #StudyInTheUSA #Thailand #StudyAbroad #MakingFriends #InternationalStudentExperience #Podcast

Support the show

🎙 International Student Experience

We share real stories from international students who have lived this journey
before you — so your path can be easier.

Every guest opens up about what they wish someone had told them. The mistakes they made. The lessons they learned the hard way. The wisdom they gained from navigating life, education, careers, and identity in the United States.

If you are an international student or about to become one — these conversations exist to make your journey lighter, clearer, and a little less lonely.

You don't have to figure it all out alone. Learn from those who have
already walked this path.

Watch full video episodes on YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/@InternationalStudentExperiece

Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | iHeartRadio

Have a story to share or want to be a guest? Email us at
[email protected]

Follow us: Instagram: @ise.podcast TIKTOK : @ise.podcast

YouTube: International Student Experience

Subscribe for new episodes every week

If this episode helped you, share it with another international student who 
needs to hear it. We are still not reaching enough International students, please help us reach to more people by reviewing the podcast and sharing with other International studen...

Send us Fan Mail

When Jennie decided to leave Taiwan to study in the US, her family was against it. She had a whole future already planned out at home, and walking away from it to go abroad alone wasn't what they wanted for her. She went anyway.

This is her story of choosing her own path, adjusting to life in a new country, learning to push through fear instead of letting it decide, and slowly turning her family's worry into pride. It's for anyone who has ever wanted something their family didn't understand, and had to find the courage to go after it.

0:00 Quitting Her Planned Path in Taiwan
3:00 Her Family Didn't Want Her to Go
7:01 Arriving in America and Finding Her Confidence
19:16 How Her Family Feels Now

Made by an international student, for international students, your practical and emotional guide to not just survive, but thrive.

New episodes every week. Subscribe and let's get into it, and if this resonated, share it with someone chasing their own path.

Also on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music & iHeartRadio
TikTok - @ISEPodcast
Instagram - @ise.podcast

Support the show

🎙 International Student Experience

We share real stories from international students who have lived this journey
before you — so your path can be easier.

Every guest opens up about what they wish someone had told them. The mistakes they made. The lessons they learned the hard way. The wisdom they gained from navigating life, education, careers, and identity in the United States.

If you are an international student or about to become one — these conversations exist to make your journey lighter, clearer, and a little less lonely.

You don't have to figure it all out alone. Learn from those who have
already walked this path.

Watch full video episodes on YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/@InternationalStudentExperiece

Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | iHeartRadio

Have a story to share or want to be a guest? Email us at
[email protected]

Follow us: Instagram: @ise.podcast TIKTOK : @ise.podcast

YouTube: International Student Experience

Subscribe for new episodes every week

If this episode helped you, share it with another international student who 
needs to hear it. We are still not reaching enough International students, please help us reach to more people by reviewing the podcast and sharing with other International studen...

Send us Fan Mail

She was a national champion swimmer in Slovakia with a full-ride scholarship to America. Her first-generation parents, who don't speak English, were terrified to let her go. Her dad almost didn't sign the papers. She came anyway, at 18, with two suitcases, and figured it all out on her own.

Then the sport that brought her here started to break her body down. After a shoulder injury forced her to stop swimming, she leaned fully into the dream she'd carried since high school, becoming a doctor.

This is Alexandra's story: leaving home, building a life alone in a new country, losing the thing that defined her, and holding on to what she was really after.

She also credits Dr. Andrew Reisman, MD, the physician who treated her shoulder and helped shape the kind of doctor she wants to become.

Made by an international student, for international students, your practical and emotional guide to not just survive, but thrive.

Watch Part Two, her full step-by-step guide to getting into med school as an international student.

Time Stamps :
0:00 - Getting Recruited to Swim in America
5:46 - Culture Shock, Language, and Living Alone
13:15 - Her Parents Almost Didn't Let Her Go
15:41 - Arriving With Two Suitcases
19:50 - The Injury That Forced Her to Stop Swimming
24:04 - How Losing Swimming Led Her to Medicine

Guest: Alexandra Misikova, from Slovakia, former national champion swimmer and Division I athlete at the University of Delaware, first-generation college student, and this August she starts medical school.
TikTok: @a_misikovaa
Instagram: @a_misikovaa
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-misikova-medstudent

New episodes every week. Subscribe and let's get into it, and if this inspired you, share it with someone chasing something big.

Also on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & Amazon Music 

TikTok - @ISEPodcast
Instagram - @ise.podcast

Support the show

🎙 International Student Experience

We share real stories from international students who have lived this journey
before you — so your path can be easier.

Every guest opens up about what they wish someone had told them. The mistakes they made. The lessons they learned the hard way. The wisdom they gained from navigating life, education, careers, and identity in the United States.

If you are an international student or about to become one — these conversations exist to make your journey lighter, clearer, and a little less lonely.

You don't have to figure it all out alone. Learn from those who have
already walked this path.

Watch full video episodes on YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/@InternationalStudentExperiece

Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | iHeartRadio

Have a story to share or want to be a guest? Email us at
[email protected]

Follow us: Instagram: @ise.podcast TIKTOK : @ise.podcast

YouTube: International Student Experience

Subscribe for new episodes every week

If this episode helped you, share it with another international student who 
needs to hear it. We are still not reaching enough International students, please help us reach to more people by reviewing the podcast and sharing with other International studen...

Send us Fan Mail

Being an international student can be one of the loneliest experiences no one warns you about, arriving alone, barely speaking the language, thousands of miles from everyone you love. But this is the story of how that loneliness slowly turned into something he never expected: freedom.

In this episode, a Thai international student opens up about arriving in the US on his own, the fear of those first months, why his first friends were all other international students, and how he learned to stop being so hard on himself. It's about the quiet truth a lot of us know but rarely say out loud — that being alone in a new country is terrifying, but it can also be where you finally become yourself.

If you've ever felt alone far from home, this one's for you.

Made by an international student, for international students — your practical and emotional guide to not just survive, but thrive.

Timestamps :
0:00 — Intro
0:26 — Moving to the US Alone Without Speaking English
4:28 — How to Make Friends as an International Student
7:13 — Coming to America for the Freedom to Be Yourself
9:42 — Dealing With Loneliness Without Worrying Your Family
16:57 — Learning to Be Kind to Yourself Far From Home

If you're struggling far from home, your campus counseling center is a free, confidential place to start. You don't have to go through it alone.

New episodes every week. Subscribe and let's get into it — and if this helped you, share it with someone who needs it.

Also on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & Amazon Music :

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5yV9JNNRRF4fBvKw5QETNC?si=748189437f0d40dc 

Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/international-student-experience-podcast/id1848975904 

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/651c6036-c2bb-4b72-81aa-3cdb5bbbf530/international-student-experience-podcast?ref=dm_sh_uP8jNQZVZvBRkNmQBWf1qwIp7

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1333-international-student-exp-302843551

TikTok - @ISEPodcast
Instagram - @ise.podcast

#InternationalStudents #StudyInTheUSA #Loneliness #StudentLife #StudyAbroad #CultureShock #InternationalStudentExperience #MovingAbroad #Podcast

Support the show

🎙 International Student Experience

We share real stories from international students who have lived this journey
before you — so your path can be easier.

Every guest opens up about what they wish someone had told them. The mistakes they made. The lessons they learned the hard way. The wisdom they gained from navigating life, education, careers, and identity in the United States.

If you are an international student or about to become one — these conversations exist to make your journey lighter, clearer, and a little less lonely.

You don't have to figure it all out alone. Learn from those who have
already walked this path.

Watch full video episodes on YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/@InternationalStudentExperiece

Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | iHeartRadio

Have a story to share or want to be a guest? Email us at
[email protected]

Follow us: Instagram: @ise.podcast TIKTOK : @ise.podcast

YouTube: International Student Experience

Subscribe for new episodes every week

If this episode helped you, share it with another international student who 
needs to hear it. We are still not reaching enough International students, please help us reach to more people by reviewing the podcast and sharing with other International studen...

Send us Fan Mail

How does an international student actually get into a US medical school? Alexandra was told at her very first advising meeting that it was basically impossible. She got in anyway — and in this episode she walks through the exact roadmap she had to build for herself.

We cover how to find the schools that genuinely accept international applicants (and the research method she used so she didn't waste months applying to ones that were never going to say yes), what schools actually look for beyond your stats, how to get shadowing and clinical hours when you're not allowed to work, how to use CPT and OPT, how to prepare for the MCAT without paying for prep courses, the difference between MD, DO and Caribbean schools, the full application timeline, and how she landed medical school scholarships — including the email she sent asking for more money, which worked.

She's also refreshingly honest about her own application: a 4.0 GPA, a below-average MCAT, and not enough clinical hours. If you're an international premed, this is the conversation nobody sat you down and had.

Made by an international student, for international students — your practical and emotional guide to not just survive, but thrive.

Guest: Alexandra Misikova — from Slovakia, first-generation college student, Division I athlete at the University of Delaware, and this August she starts medical school.
 TikTok: @a_misikovaa (https://www.tiktok.com/@a_misikovaa)
Instagram: @a_misikovaa (https://www.instagram.com/a_misikovaa)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-misikova-medstudent

Chapters:
 0:00 — Intro
 1:27 — Why Most Med Schools Don't Accept International Students
 2:44 — How to Find the Schools That Actually Accept You
 6:53 — "It's Impossible": Where to Start as a Freshman
 11:26 — How to Get Shadowing, Volunteering and Clinical Hours
 14:27 — What Med Schools Look For — and the Application Timeline
 21:47 — How to Prepare for the MCAT (and Her Honest Stats)
 26:43 — MD vs. DO vs. Caribbean: How She Chose
 34:50 — CPT and Your International Office: What You're Allowed to Do
 45:21 — OPT Explained in her TikTok Video : The 4 Rules Every International Premed Should Know
 47:20 — How to Get Scholarships — and How She Asked for More
 54:10 — What She'd Tell Her Younger Self

New episodes every week. Subscribe and let's get into it — and if this helped you, share it with someone who needs it.

Also on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & Amazon Music :

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5yV9JNNRRF4fBvKw5QETNC?si=748189437f0d40dc 

Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/international-student-experience-podcast/id1848975904 

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/651c6036-c2bb-4b72-81aa-3cdb5bbbf530/international-student-experience-podcast?ref=dm_sh_uP8jNQZVZvBRkNmQBWf1qwIp7

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1333-international-student-exp-302843551

TikTok - @ISEPodcast
Instagram - @ise.podcast

⚠️ Disclaimer

This content is based on personal experiences and is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal, immigration, or professional advice. Please consult a qualified professional for guidance specific to your situation.

Support the show

🎙 International Student Experience

We share real stories from international students who have lived this journey
before you — so your path can be easier.

Every guest opens up about what they wish someone had told them. The mistakes they made. The lessons they learned the hard way. The wisdom they gained from navigating life, education, careers, and identity in the United States.

If you are an international student or about to become one — these conversations exist to make your journey lighter, clearer, and a little less lonely.

You don't have to figure it all out alone. Learn from those who have
already walked this path.

Watch full video episodes on YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/@InternationalStudentExperiece

Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | iHeartRadio

Have a story to share or want to be a guest? Email us at
[email protected]

Follow us: Instagram: @ise.podcast TIKTOK : @ise.podcast

YouTube: International Student Experience

Subscribe for new episodes every week

If this episode helped you, share it with another international student who 
needs to hear it. We are still not reaching enough International students, please help us reach to more people by reviewing the podcast and sharing with other International studen...

Send us Fan Mail

A short, guided meditation for international students — for the moments you feel alone, far from home, or too hard on yourself. Licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Isra Yaghoubi guides this gentle loving-kindness and self-compassion practice you can return to anytime you need to feel a little less alone.
Loving-kindness meditation comes from Eastern practice and has been widely studied — research links it to real benefits for anxiety, low mood, and self-compassion when practiced even a little, consistently. No experience needed. Find a quiet spot, put your phone down, and let yourself just be for a few minutes.
If this brings you some calm, save it and come back whenever you need it. You don't have to struggle alone.
Guided by: Dr. Isra Yaghoubi, Licensed Clinical Psychologist at Santa Monica College.
This is from a fuller conversation on loneliness and mental health for international students — watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/8soXD1FMIVI

If you're struggling, your campus counseling center is a free, confidential place to start. You don't have to struggle alone.

Have an international student story to share?
[email protected]

New episodes every week. Subscribe and let's get into it — and if this helped you, share it with someone who needs it.

Also on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & Amazon Music :

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5yV9JNNRRF4fBvKw5QETNC?si=748189437f0d40dc 

Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/international-student-experience-podcast/id1848975904 

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/651c6036-c2bb-4b72-81aa-3cdb5bbbf530/international-student-experience-podcast?ref=dm_sh_uP8jNQZVZvBRkNmQBWf1qwIp7

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1333-international-student-exp-302843551

TikTok - @ISEPodcast
Instagram - @ise.podcast

#InternationalStudents #StudentMentalHealth #StudyInTheUSA #StudyAbroad #MentalHealth #Loneliness #InternationalStudentExperience #CultureShock #CampusLife #podcast 

⚠️ Disclaimer

This content is based on personal experiences and is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal, immigration, or professional advice. Please consult a qualified professional for guidance specific to your situation.

Support the show

🎙 International Student Experience

We share real stories from international students who have lived this journey
before you — so your path can be easier.

Every guest opens up about what they wish someone had told them. The mistakes they made. The lessons they learned the hard way. The wisdom they gained from navigating life, education, careers, and identity in the United States.

If you are an international student or about to become one — these conversations exist to make your journey lighter, clearer, and a little less lonely.

You don't have to figure it all out alone. Learn from those who have
already walked this path.

Watch full video episodes on YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/@InternationalStudentExperiece

Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | iHeartRadio

Have a story to share or want to be a guest? Email us at
[email protected]

Follow us: Instagram: @ise.podcast TIKTOK : @ise.podcast

YouTube: International Student Experience

Subscribe for new episodes every week

If this episode helped you, share it with another international student who 
needs to hear it. We are still not reaching enough International students, please help us reach to more people by reviewing the podcast and sharing with other International studen...

Send us Fan Mail

Feeling alone as an international student is far more common than anyone admits — and there's real help, often free, that most students never use. In this episode, licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Isra Yaghoubi shares what actually helps when you're far from home and quietly struggling.

We get honest about the loneliness no one warns you about, why admitting you're struggling doesn't make you a burden, what to do when panic hits and you don't know anyone yet, how to find the free counseling already waiting on your campus, why therapy is for growth and not just crisis, and why going back home was never failure. If you've ever said "I'm fine" when you were really not, this one's for you.
Made by an international student, for international students — your practical and emotional guide to not just survive, but thrive.
Guest: Dr. Isra Yaghoubi, Licensed Clinical Psychologist at Santa Monica College, who has spent years working with international students.

Chapters:
0:00 — Intro
1:29 — How to Deal With Loneliness as an International Student
7:14 — What to Do When You Feel Like You Can't Survive Here
13:46 — How to Stop Feeling Like a Burden for Struggling
15:02 — What to Do During a Panic Attack
19:41 — How to Find Free Therapy on Your Campus
27:16 — How to Actually Ask for Help (And Why It's So Hard)
35:15 — How to Stop Feeling Like Going Home Is Failure
37:16 — How to Face a Fear That Can't Actually Hurt You
39:06 — How to Cope With an Uncertain Future
44:24 — How to Remember You're Not the Only One Going Through This
49:04 — Fun Ways to Deal With Everyday Student Stress
54:45 — Daily Habits to Protect Your Mental Health
1:00:46 — What a Psychologist Wishes Every Student Knew
1:02:49 — How to Carry Hard Things Without Going Through Them Alone
1:04:29 — What Every International Student Needs to Hear

If you're struggling, your campus counseling center is a free, confidential place to start. You don't have to struggle alone.

Have an international student story to share?
[email protected]

New episodes every week. Subscribe and let's get into it — and if this helped you, share it with someone who needs it.

Also on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & Amazon Music :

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5yV9JNNRRF4fBvKw5QETNC?si=748189437f0d40dc 

Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/international-student-experience-podcast/id1848975904 

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/651c6036-c2bb-4b72-81aa-3cdb5bbbf530/international-student-experience-podcast?ref=dm_sh_uP8jNQZVZvBRkNmQBWf1qwIp7

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1333-international-student-exp-302843551

TikTok - @ISEPodcast
Instagram - @ise.podcast

#InternationalStudents #StudentMentalHealth #StudyInTheUSA #StudyAbroad #MentalHealth #Loneliness #InternationalStudentExperience #CultureShock #CampusLife #podcast 

⚠️ Disclaimer

This content is based on personal experiences and is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal, immigration, or professional advice. Please consult a qualified professional for guidance specific to your situation.

Support the show

🎙 International Student Experience

We share real stories from international students who have lived this journey
before you — so your path can be easier.

Every guest opens up about what they wish someone had told them. The mistakes they made. The lessons they learned the hard way. The wisdom they gained from navigating life, education, careers, and identity in the United States.

If you are an international student or about to become one — these conversations exist to make your journey lighter, clearer, and a little less lonely.

You don't have to figure it all out alone. Learn from those who have
already walked this path.

Watch full video episodes on YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/@InternationalStudentExperiece

Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | iHeartRadio

Have a story to share or want to be a guest? Email us at
[email protected]

Follow us: Instagram: @ise.podcast TIKTOK : @ise.podcast

YouTube: International Student Experience

Subscribe for new episodes every week

If this episode helped you, share it with another international student who 
needs to hear it. We are still not reaching enough International students, please help us reach to more people by reviewing the podcast and sharing with other International studen...

Send us Fan Mail

Most international students focus so much on surviving the pressure that they forget they're living in one of the most exciting cities on earth. This episode isn't about overcoming hardship; it's a reminder that you can maintain your F1 status while still creating the best, most chaotic memories of your life.

In this episode, you’re not getting another checklist on how to build a resume or survive hardship; instead, you’re getting a roadmap on how to choose joy and actually live your life while studying abroad. Through a collection of hilarious, real-life stories—from getting a free haircut via a wild Yelp review to finding the best free views of the city from Mulholland Drive—we prove that you don't need a massive budget to create an unforgettable college experience. But we also don’t shy away from the deeper realities, diving into the quiet pressures of identity, representing your home country, and learning how to step out from under the weight of expectations to claim your own path. Whether you are navigating your own student journey or just miss the nostalgic chaos of your college days, this conversation is your ultimate permission slip to find balance, protect your future, and have the absolute best time of your life.

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
0:12 Most fun time in USA as an International Student
5:54 Random encounters in LA with people and celebrities 
12:55 Neighbors in LA who takes you to strip club as well as advice on whom to part with
16:11 cultural shock in LA , In N Out Burger, return policy and lion is my pet story
25:25 tipping culture and funny Barber stories. 
34:06 How to make friends as an International student
37:08 Why you should got to community college before going to university
42:11 Pressure of being an African international student experience
46:39 Scary experience in LA
49:30 Dating Experience, challenges and stories
57:42 LA Culture and how it can motivate you
01:01:03 Advice to international students, How to make great memories and not just survive
01:05:38 Favorite childhood memory 

International Student Experience Podcast Real stories. Honest conversations. Practical guidance from international students who lived it.

Have an international student story to share? : [email protected]

Subscribe for new episodes every week

#InternationalStudent #InternationalStudentMentalHealth #StudyAbroad #MentalHealth #SurvivalMode #InternationalStudentExperience #Therapy #StudentLife #CollegeMentalHealth #YouAreNotAlone #StudyAbroadMentalHealth #InternationalStudentLife

Support the show

🎙 International Student Experience

We share real stories from international students who have lived this journey
before you — so your path can be easier.

Every guest opens up about what they wish someone had told them. The mistakes they made. The lessons they learned the hard way. The wisdom they gained from navigating life, education, careers, and identity in the United States.

If you are an international student or about to become one — these conversations exist to make your journey lighter, clearer, and a little less lonely.

You don't have to figure it all out alone. Learn from those who have
already walked this path.

Watch full video episodes on YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/@InternationalStudentExperiece

Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | iHeartRadio

Have a story to share or want to be a guest? Email us at
[email protected]

Follow us: Instagram: @ise.podcast TIKTOK : @ise.podcast

YouTube: International Student Experience

Subscribe for new episodes every week

If this episode helped you, share it with another international student who 
needs to hear it. We are still not reaching enough International students, please help us reach to more people by reviewing the podcast and sharing with other International studen...

Send us Fan Mail

What is the true cost of pursuing a dream? For Zahra M. Aghajan, moving from Iran to the US for her love of science meant navigating a path of profound challenges, heart-breaking choices, and deep self-discovery.

In this deeply moving and powerful conversation, Zahra shares her story with incredible courage and honesty. She details the complex motivations for leaving her home, including the specific hurdles for women in her field and the "unbelievably hard" F1-visa process that is a unique challenge for Iranian students.

Her journey is one of inspiring resilience. She gets candid about the waves of loneliness, the cultural shocks of arriving at UCLA (plus some hilarious misunderstandings), and the devastating, personal impact the Muslim ban had on her and her family.

Zahra also speaks openly about:

How grad school "breaks you down emotionally" and how therapy became an essential tool for her to heal and grow.
How she built a new "family" in LA through friends who made her feel at home.
The joys and beautiful similarities of marrying into a different culture.
Her hopes and dreams for raising a bicultural daughter in America.

Throughout the episode, she and host Harshrajsinh Gohil have a compassionate and insightful discussion comparing the cultures of Iran, India, and the USA. This is a story you won't want to miss.

Have a story to share? Email us at [email protected]

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Intro
04:59 Life at Home in Tehran
20:21 Choosing UCLA
22:54 Experiencing cultural shock when returning home, Iran and India
25:40 Cultural shocks in Los Angeles
28:46 US Student Visa challenges
34:54 Muslim Ban and it's Impact
44:50 Life at UCLA
01:03:44 Marrying in a different culture and raising children in the US
01:11:32 What would you borrow from American culture and Iranian culture

About Outsiders Insiders Experience: 

Welcome to International Student Experience, the essential podcast for international students navigating life, study, and careers in the USA. We share authentic stories and practical advice to help you thrive. Each episode provides a guide to the biggest challenges of studying in America, with expert advice on everything from the F-1 visa, OPT, and H-1B to overcoming culture shock and building your community.

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We share real stories from international students who have lived this journey
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Every guest opens up about what they wish someone had told them. The mistakes they made. The lessons they learned the hard way. The wisdom they gained from navigating life, education, careers, and identity in the United States.

If you are an international student or about to become one — these conversations exist to make your journey lighter, clearer, and a little less lonely.

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