Ebenezer Anom is one of about just one hundred students from Africa at UTEP. (Vianey Alderete/Borderzine.com)

Overcoming obstacles is a constant part of life for international students

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EL PASO – Ebenezer Anom’s passion for nursing developed when he was a child in Ghana from a visit to a hospital where he was impressed by the activity of the nurses. Despite his parents’ disapproval because nursing is seen as woman’s work in his native country, he is now finalizing his senior year in pre-nursing at the University of Texas at El Paso. He came to UTEP after acquiring a bachelor’s degree in computer science and communication at the University of Duisburg, in Germany. “After my first degree I worked for about three years and then I realized my passion in nursing was stolen from me. So this was the point where I asked myself if I wanted to continue what I was doing or go into what I am passionate about,” said Anom.

Kristin Oberheide, Director of International Programs at UTEP. (Juan Salomón/Borderzine.com)

International students can’t settle in the U.S. after graduation, so they take their learning home

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EL PASO – International student Andres De La Vega is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering this December from an American university, but with few U.S. employers willing to pay hefty fees to sponsor a foreign worker, he has two choices – go to graduate school or go back home. “Because we have invested in this country, I think we [international students] all deserve to get a job after graduation,” said De La Vega, an international student at the University of Texas at El Paso. So far he hasn’t had much luck landing a job here so he plans to attend graduate school in the U.S. rather than return home to Mexico. “I have been offered job positions, but when the employers find out that I am an international student, they immediately repeal the offer,” he said. Many foreign students attending U.S. colleges and universities face the same dilemma upon graduation.

Training program keeps international students in the U.S. after graduation

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EL PASO — International students graduating from U.S. colleges can extend their stay legally and work in this country for one year by applying for the Optional Practical Training Program (OPT). “(OPT) is the only way we as international students can stay working legally in the US,” said Fernando Hernández, who graduated from UTEP this year with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems. “I am planning to stay in the U.S., going back to México will be like walking backwards.”

OPT offers F-1 visa students the opportunity to stay in the U.S. to work for a 12-month period in a field related to their degree. According to Carol Martin, assistant director of International Programs at the University of Texas at El Paso, the goal of OPT is not to extend the students time in the U.S., but to give them an opportunity to gain work experience in their field of study. “The goal of OPT is to give them practical training to help them be a better graduate,” Martin said. “The point of OPT is not for them to be in the U.S. as long as they can and to get a job, that is why it is not called optional practical employment.