Portland State Magazine Spring 2013

SPRING 2013 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE 19 in the U.S. is so different than in Saudi Arabia. There, women must have a male to do everything—drive, get a contract of any sort such as rent or utilities. So we help them do these things for themselves. They want to experience a different kind of life, and PSU offers a great opportunity.” Lingga came here in 2008 from Jeddah, along with her two young sons and her mother. Like many Saudi students, she chose PSU based on family connections—two brothers and an uncle had studied here. She spent a year studying in PSU’s Intensive English Language Program, which prepares students to tackle university classes taught in English. It’s not always a painless transition from English language classes to University classes, where lectures and discussions seem to move at lightning speed. Lamia AlHamidi, a business student, initially found it challenging to be surrounded by native English speakers, and says of her public speaking class, “It was terrifying! I couldn’t stop shaking before my first speech. Then I noticed that all these English speakers were really nervous, too, even though they were speaking in their native language. So that gave me more confidence to speak up. I learned it’s just fine to make mistakes.” Alfaraj, the geology student from Alsharqiya, agrees. “It goes so fast, and my brain still thinks in Arabic, translates everything into Arabic and then back. I am working very hard! I would sit through a whole calculus class and not understand a single word the instructor said, even though I understand the calculus. For about a month I just wanted to go home.” She stops for a deep breath. “I don’t know anyone in my class, and I don’t know how to respond if another student tries to make friends. But I came here all the way to be a geologist, so I have to be successful. I want to work for a large Saudi petrol company, and then come back to the U.S. to earn my graduate degree. That keeps me going.” LIKE MOST SAUDI women on campus, Alfaraj, AlHamidi, and Lingga choose to wear headscarves and modest clothing. “One of the best things about PSU is that we can be who we are and not feel as if people are judging us based on what Left to right: Mashaer Alfaraj, Dina Lingga, and Rawan Altaweel are three of more than 700 students from Saudi Arabia now studying at Portland State. Life in the U.S. is especially daunting for Saudi women, who are not used to mixed-gender classrooms, living on their own, interacting with strangers, or the informal manners of many Americans.