Internationalie

This week, I am joined by my dear friend Soriene. She is originally from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She completed her undergraduate education at Bryn Mawr College in Mathematics and Economics. After graduating in 2020, she worked at Yale University as a Research Assistant. She’s currently an Economics PhD student at Northwestern University.

In this episode, we discussed our experiences when it comes to finding internships during college as international students and also securing full time jobs afterwards. We talked about the struggles we faced when applying to these positions as international students and how we overcame them. Furthermore, we highlighted the importance of networking, taking advantage of our college’s career service centers and cultivating our relationships with our professors in helping us secure jobs and internships.

Tune-in to laugh, learn and appreciate the international student experience!

Please send questions and feedbacks you have to [email protected] or DM on the Instagram page @internationaliebyruth

This week, I am very excited to be joined by Zeresenay “Zee” Berhane Mehari who is an award-winning writer/director born and raised in Ethiopia. Zee moved to the U.S. to attend film school and founded Haile - Addis Pictures to produce his first narrative feature film, Difret, which was Executive Produced by Angelina Jolie and won Audience Awards at both the Sundance and Berlin International Film Festivals. His next feature film, Sweetness in the Belly, based on the international best-selling novel of the same name by Camilla Gibb set during the Ethiopian revolution in the 1970s, was a Canadian-Irish co-production starring Dakota Fanning and Yahya

Abdul-Mateen and had its world premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was distributed by Entertainment One and Gravitas Ventures and was the first feature film helmed by an African director financed by Canada’s public Telefilms fund.

Zee was most recently co-founder and Head of Original Content for Kana Television, the popular free-to-air, private satellite entertainment TV channel in Ethiopia which was recently acquired by Canal Plus. Zee is currently Head of Production and a co-founder of A51 Pictures, an independent film production company based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He is currently developing a slate of films for the local and international market. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts.

In this episode, we talked about the importance of building a community and serving as a bridge between communities. We discussed how vital it is for international students to become part of different communities in college and how those new communities can become family away from family.

Tune-in to laugh, learn and appreciate the international student experience!

Please send questions and feedbacks you have to [email protected] or DM on the Instagram page @internationaliebyruth

This week, I am joined by my dear friend Zoya. She is from Karachi, Pakistan (although she was born in Lahore, and spent a good part of her childhood in the Punjab province of Pakistan). She completed her undergraduate degree in the U.S. at Smith College, where she double-majored in Quantitative Economics and English Language and Literature. Currently, she is based right outside Washington D.C., where she works at an economic consulting firm.

In this episode, we talked about how we navigated our different identities in college whether it was our place of origin, our religion or even our gender. We discussed how our identity shifts and the importance of learning to be comfortable with our ever-changing identity and how that impacts the people we interact with and the friendships we form.

Tune-in to laugh, learn and appreciate the international student experience!

Please send questions and feedbacks you have to [email protected] or DM on the Instagram page @internationaliebyruth

This week I am joined by my very dear friend Maëlle. She is from a small city in the East of France, near the border with Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. She’s very passionate about dancing and gender equality. MaëlleI studied Political Science and International Public Management at Sciences Po in France and did a one-year exchange program at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Currently, she works in a think-tank focusing on Africa-EU relations, where she conducts research and analysis, mainly on conflicts, peace-building and gender equality.

In this episode, we talked about how to overcome shyness as an international student and how it can help us break down barriers with strangers. We discussed how we each navigated through our experience with shyness and some lessons that have helped us to confidently connect with people and share our ideas more openly.

Tune-in to laugh, learn and appreciate the international student experience!

Please send questions and feedbacks you have to [email protected] or DM on the Instagram page @internationaliebyruth

This week I am joined by my dear friend Makeda. She was born in Houston, Texas and moved to Addis Ababa when she was 10 years old. Once she finished high school, she attended Rice University in Houston, Texas where she studied Economics. She is currently working as an Associate in Agro Processing with the Tony Blair Institute.

In this episode, we talked about our experiences with dating in college and the reasons why it can be a bit challenging to date while being a student in college. We discussed the value of self-awareness and understanding your priorities before dating someone and the importance of balancing friendships in building a healthy relationship.

Tune-in to laugh, learn and appreciate the international student experience!

Please send questions and feedbacks you have to [email protected] or DM on the Instagram page @internationaliebyruth

This week, I am joined by my very dear friend, Khulood. Khulood is Egyptian and grew up in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. She graduated from Smith College in 2019 with majors in Government and Comparative Literature. She recently graduated with a master's degree in International Affairs at the Fletcher School at Tufts University.

In this episode, we talked about the importance of goal setting and prioritizing as international students in college. We discussed how it’s acceptable for plans to change and the necessity of adaptability in setting our goals.

Tune-in to laugh, learn and appreciate the international student experience!

Please send questions and feedbacks you have to [email protected] or DM on the Instagram page @internationaliebyruth

This week, I am joined by my very dear friend Heran. Heran is from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She has a bachelor's degree in Public Health from Georgia State University, and a master's degree in Nursing from Emory University. She currently works in a Cardiac ICU as a registered nurse. 

In this episode, we discussed how we each dealt with imposter syndrome while in college and navigating through the feeling of not-belonging. We talked about the importance of believing in ourselves and trusting our abilities. Additionally, we discussed some tips that helped us including avoiding comparison with others, eliminating self-doubt and setting realistic goals.

Tune-in to laugh, learn and appreciate the international student experience!

Please send questions and feedbacks you have to [email protected] or DM on the Instagram page @internationaliebyruth

This week, I am joined by my very dear friend Manavi. She is from Kolkata, India. Manavi went to Smith College and majored in Economics and graduated in May 2019. She is currently working on her own startup called The Health Nut.

In this episode, we talked about our experiences with culture shock, particularly the difficulty of adjusting to a new culture and navigating a new environment. We discussed the challenges we faced assimilating to a new environment as international students in college and the importance of being open-minded and listening to others to make the transition smoother.

Tune-in to laugh, learn and appreciate the international student experience!

Please send questions and feedbacks you have to [email protected] or DM on the Instagram page @internationaliebyruth

This week, I am joined by my very dear friend Bethlehem. She is from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and is a graduate of Wesleyan University with

majors in Neuroscience and Biology and a minor in East Asian Studies. Outside of science, she studied French and Korean, and participated in a summer exchange program at Seoul National University. After college, she worked as a research assistant at Yale University for two years before moving to Atlanta to start her neuroscience PhD journey at Emory University. Outside of research, she likes to participate in group fitness classes, go for a walk in nature or try out new restaurants around the city.

In this episode, we discussed about the importance of prioritizing our mental well-being as international students. As the month of May is dedicated to #mentalhealthawareness, we talked about how finding community, embracing vulnerability and practicing intentionality can help us take care of our mental health.

Tune-in to laugh, learn and appreciate the international student experience!

Please send questions and feedbacks you have to [email protected] or DM on the Instagram page @internationaliebyruth

This week, I am joined by my very dear friend Nathan. He is from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Nathan is currently a senior at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut with a major in Mechanical Engineering and with a minor in Mathematics. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball.

In this episode, we discussed how we each dealt with challenges we faced in college as international students from home sickness to culture shock to food. We also talked about some of the things we did to help us cope with the challenges of college life and the importance of focusing on our passion and goals to help us succeed.

Tune-in to laugh, learn and appreciate the international student experience!

Please send questions and feedbacks you have to [email protected] or DM on the Instagram page @internationaliebyruth