At first glance, our CAC campuses may seem relatively small, espe­cially compared to large-scale state universities. However, don’t be fooled by our physical size for the student population within our buildings is very di­verse, both ethnically and cul­turally. Our student popula­tion includes a good number of students from faraway places and it’s surprising how many of our classmates are from out of the county, state, and even country! Every year, the Sig­nal Peak Campus reels in kids from all around the world. Many times, students come to CAC from all around the coun­try and even overseas to play on our sports teams because of their outstanding athletic abilities. Other students come here through our international foreign exchange program, as is the case with Mengke Sun (Minka) and Linxi Ma (Lind­sey) — they are here all the way from Shenyang, China for the fall semester.

Lindsey and Minka are sopho­mores from Northeastern Uni­versity, in Shenyang, and both are majoring in English. They are very excited about enhanc­ing their English speaking abilities (including listening, reading, and writing) and nursing their interests of the language as well as a different culture. Minka and Lindsey are high academic achievers, which has brought them a long way, for they are also following their dreams of traveling and studying abroad.

At school in China, Lindsey and Minka are very involved in their community but in somewhat differing areas and clubs than those we have here at CAC. They both appreciate the value of being involved in the community. For example, Lindsey is the secretary of an Operation and Maintenance Department in a Network club and says “To be frank, I don’t master much advanced computer technology, but I love being there because the members of our club get along like a family.” She is also the deputy director of the Public Relations Department in the student union of Northeastern University. She enjoys volun­teering among other things, and has already applied for a program that is coming this summer holiday, which sup­ports education in underprivi­leged areas adding, “I feel good when I can help.” Minka is also very involved; she has two years of league secretary experience, adding “I really appreciate for my classmates’ support and cooperation in our class activities. Every time when I organize one activity, I will promote myself and im­prove our friendship through it.”

Lindsey and Minka are very friendly and excited to talk about their home and their lives back in China, and their English is already im­proving. They knew of each other back home, but did not become thoroughly acquainted until they came here to CAC. They mentioned how friendly everyone is here; saying “hello” to one another without actual­ly knowing them was unusual to them at first, as well as the common friendly gesture of holding the door open for oth­ers. The infamous Arizona heat also took some adjusting to, and the desert landscape is a drastic change in scenery. They are already planning to see the finest sights our state and country have to offer and spoke of visiting Los Angeles as well as New York.

They are, surprisingly, fans of the allegedly awful cafeteria food, and particu­larly like the pizza, sandwich­es, and ice cream. However, when asked what they missed about their home, they both instantly said “the food” along with their friends and family; though Northeastern Univer­sity is a long way from both of their hometowns.

Accompanying Lindsey and Minka during the interview was Garret Delkamp, a na­tive CAC student who attend­ed Northeastern University for a semester last spring. He had many wonderful pictures to share, which helped depict the things Lindsey and Min­ka spoke of about China.The three made China sound very interesting and appealing, and Garret plans on returning to China after he has completed his degree here.document.currentScript.parentNode.insertBefore(s, document.currentScript);