International Students

When Illia Kholiavin fled his war-torn Ukrainian hometown of Mariupol in 2022, he left behind the only life he’d ever known. After relocating first to Poland and then Sparta, N.J., with his mother and grandmother, he committed himself to learning English and finishing school. “What we experienced was brutal. It changed something in us,” he said. “You really understand that life is not infinite. You need to do something in your life before it ends.” On May 16, Kholiavin was inducted into Rutgers University’s prestigious Matthew Leydt Society along with 234 of his peers who ranked in the top 2% of Rutgers University-New Brunswick's and Rutgers Health's graduating Class of 2025.

Rutgers Global hosted its largest-ever International Student Orientation (ISO), from August 26 through 28, 2024, at the Jersey Mike’s Arena and other locations across campus. 

The latest in our summer International Student Spotlight series is Danaya Rakhimova from Tajikstan, who is studying linguistics at Rutgers University. Danaya is an Orientation Leader (OL) and will help out at our International Student Orientation, held in late August (and again in the spring semester). Our OLs volunteer their time and energy to ensure that new international students arriving to Rutgers feel welcomed and prepared to start their academic journey at Rutgers. Learn more about Danaya and her experiences at Rutgers along with some of her favorite things.

Our summer International Student Spotlight series continues and we meet Jolene Fu from Malaysia, who is studying biochemistry at Rutgers University. Jolene is an Orientation Leader (OL) and will help out at our International Student Orientation, held in late August (and again in the spring semester). Our OLs volunteer their time and energy to ensure that new international students arriving to Rutgers feel welcomed and prepared to start their academic journey at Rutgers. Learn more about Jolene and her experiences at Rutgers along with some of her favorite things.

In the latest article in our International Student Spotlight series, we meet Hamida Paiman, from the Bamyan province of Afghanistan, who is studying data science at Rutgers University. Hamida is an Orientation Leader (OL) and will help out at our International Student Orientation, held in late August (and again in the spring semester). Our OLs volunteer their time and energy to ensure that new international students arriving to Rutgers feel welcomed and prepared to start their academic journey at Rutgers. Learn more about Hamida and her journey to Rutgers along with some of her favorite things.

Rutgers University is proud to welcome more than 7,000 international students from around the world to our campuses each year. Rutgers Global’s International Student & Scholar Services (ISSS) team supports our international community by providing services and enriching experiences from their arrival to Rutgers to graduation and beyond. Some of our international students choose to become Orientation Leaders (OLs) at our International Student Orientation events, held in the fall and spring. These OLs volunteer their time and energy to ensure that new international students arriving to Rutgers feel welcomed and prepared to start their academic journey at Rutgers. Here is one of our OLs, Yikai Zhao from Shanghai, China, who is at currently at Rutgers Business School in New Brunswick and will share a bit about his journey to Rutgers along with some of his favorite things.