October 2022: Managing Cultural Adjustment and Culture Shock - From Manilla to Missoula

Udo is joined by Shiena Greata Medrano, an Accounting and Management Information System Major at the University of Montana, and, if that was not enough for a full-time student, she is also the Indigenous/Rural Outreach Ambassador at Accelerate Montana, an Executive at the UM Pacific Islanders Club and the International Student Association. Shien was born and raised in the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines, which is also where she received her primary education. She decided to continue her education in the United States and while study abroad is one of the best ways to acquire global skills, access personal and professional opportunities, by developing intercultural communication, foreign languages, adaptability, and problem-solving skills, it typically requires some cultural adjustment in the host culture and country as well. Coming from Manila, a city with several million people to Philipsburg, Montana, a city of under a thousand individuals is a major change, which includes the shock of a new environment, meeting lots of new people and learning the customs, traditions and values of the new country and its people. An adjustment that many international students are going through, when they decide to leave their rural hometowns and move to another country, and often much more urban settlements, to continue and/or complete their educational journey, just like Shien did. Her journey has been fun, exciting, educational, rewarding, eye-opening, but sometimes also stressful and even frustrating. Listen in, to find out how you can reduce the impact of culture shock and how you can help others going through it. This is PART 1, of a multi-part series about individuals managing cultural adjustment and culture shock.