Last week I watched a live post on Instagram which prompted me to take a second to do some self reflection. This year we have all seen nothing but curve balls. However, I do hope we all remember to take care of ourselves. We’ve all been trapped indoors for quite a while and though some of us are essential workers only going to work and returning home can still be a lot on one’s psyche. The lack of social interaction can bring one’s inner battles to the surface. Are you prepared to spend this time with yourself? Hopefully with the world slowly reopening most of us are doing pretty good mentally but if things were to go south and we are back in total isolation for another couple months could your psyche manage? Instead of only wanting to leave isolation with a new side gig or hobby why not want to leave with a bigger and better sense of self?

Who are you? What is your purpose? What makes you happy? What is your love language? If I were to ask you these simple questions would you be able to give me an honest answer? I can finally say yes I can but if you had asked me this a couple years ago my answers would have been generic. The hope is that by answering these questions one can start to build self love and self awareness in these trying times.

Who am I? A nurse, a daughter, a sister and a friend. I’m the person that some consider to be shy while others consider to be the no nonsense chatterbox. I am honest, loyal, empathetic and selfless but I can also be stubborn, blunt and sometimes forget to use my “inside face”. I am not two dimensional in any means and it’s knowing this about myself that has gotten me where I am today.

What is my purpose? This is an easy one. My purpose is to help those that are not quite able to help themselves. I knew this from an early age. I have always been involved with volunteering so deciding to become a nurse was a natural next step.

What makes me happy? Family! Everything about family makes my heart smile. I had an amazing childhood and I love every part of the family dynamics that come into play. Which also is why I love my job. I get to welcome new life into the world and watch how these families fall helplessly in love with their newest member.

What is my love language? If you have never heard of love languages then boy have you been missing out. I first read The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman for a college class about three or more years ago and I must say it was a good read. The gist here is knowing what makes you feel loved from those around you. There are many quizzes online that can assist you with this. Once you do know then start doing these things for yourself. Mine is Acts of Service and during this time I have been doing just that. I’ve focused on doing things for myself be it a pedicure, skincare or a shopping spree for the summer I hope to have.

So much has been happening and continue to happen in the world right now. It is with a deep sadness that I watch the horror going on worldwide and I wonder what will become of us. I pray everyday for the safety and health of us all.

These are just some ideas to help occupy your time. Do not take your health or that of your loved ones for granted. Can we change our ways to help keep out any future pandemics? If history is any kind of indicator, then the answer is no. We are asking for people to take some simple precautions as hard as it may seem it’s easier than losing someone you care about. Please consider all the essential workers who still have families at home but are willing not only to risk their health but the health of their families so you can make it back home to yours. The ones that are not as healthy are getting hit the hardest, but even the ones that are healthy are suffering when they catch it. Please don’t be selfish by disregarding the simple request to wash your hands, social distance, stay at home unless it is a need and to fully isolate if needed.

During this time most of us are quarantined and I do hope you guys take this seriously. I for one know how hard it can be to stay inside for extended amounts of time. Especially when there is no real answer as to when this stay in quarantine will end.

However, there is so much that can be done during this time. As an international student or a student on a whole things right now are uncertain. Classes may be online and some may not be in session at all but this is a great time to maybe put some extra time into that subject that isn’t going as well as the others. When I was in school I didn’t think to use all of the online resources that are at our fingertips. Do not do what I did. Use YouTube or google your topic at hand, I’m sure that you will find a bunch of ready use information that will help you understand whatever you don’t.

For those that school work is not a factor then I would suggest maybe finding a hobby. One can only watch so much Netflix. Why not watch while doing a hobby that you’ve not had the time to do or one that sparked your interest. Some hobbies can be expensive to keep up with but there is so much you can do without breaking the bank. Cooking is a great way to occupy your time, though you have to buy the ingredients you also need to eat so it’ll be a win win. I personally craft and though this is an expensive start up and upkeep I usually have some if my items for sale to recoup some of the expense. Puzzles, reading, photography, writing, learning a language and drawing are all cheap hobbies to keep up and there are so much more. There are a lot of free or cheap online classes you can find on the internet. Or give yourself a home project, something you wanted to do but kept putting off because of time constraints.

Dating in this time can also be tricky but I urge you all not to go meet up with anyone during this time. This is where creativity can come into play. Video call dates can be a good way to get to know someone. Or the good old fashion phone calls that lasted forever just talking and getting to know someone. The positive thing about this is its easier to end a bad phone date than a bad in-person date.

 As a nurse I want to say thank you all of you that take this risk every day, but more so you are taking it now in a pandemic. I hope and pray that this is the last one we will ever experience. 

Be safe, follow directions and be kind to each other.

May God bless and keep us in this time.

Love Natarie

As the year 2020 begins, I would like to say thank you to all who have supported me in 2019. As I transition from an International student to a young lady living and working in the U.S.A. I hope you all will continue this journey with me. 2019 has been a very busy year for me. At a glance, I got my dream job in January, with great colleagues. I became a resident of U.S.A., saw one of my best friends that I have not seen in years and bought my first home. My family have been there right by my side through all of it both biological and adopted and to say that I have been bless would be an understatement. I have a family that surrounds and protect me from near and far, my moms are always a phone call away and my siblings also. Not everyday may go how we want it at times, but we must trust that there is a reason and that reason will reveal itself sooner or later and that there is a bigger plan out there.

 

Last year I promised to write my blog a bit more regularly and it did not happen, so this year I will try to do so but not promise.

Happy 2020 everyone and may all your needs be met this year and beyond. And all your dreams come through.

Love Natarie

 

As 2019 fast approaches, I just want to say thank you to all the people that have been there in 2018, I also want to take this chance to remind all international students that it does get better, some of us miss our families, friends and our traditions but remember if it gets to be a bit much reach out to someone, I have found that people are more helpful if we talk about it, and someone may be able to offer that comforting advice when we need it the most. 

Also, as we prepare for the next year, please speak to your international advisors about next steps. This may be the next school year, preparing for work experience or just getting ready to finish school and figuring out what is next legally and how soon you must get your paperwork into immigration, so you don’t have to lose status. Immigration can be so complex, youmay have to find the correct help to navigate the piles of paperwork. As I am transitioning into the working world, I was blessed to have immigration lawyer Mike Sherman to handle my paperwork, and with so much misguided theories on what you can and cannot do he made my life so much easier. He answered all my questions within a day and believe me when I say I don’t believe he sleeps, because some of those questions were sent via email at the weirdest times usually when I remembered, and I would get a response back right away. No question was toodumb for him to answer. He held my hands with through all my misgivings and misconceptions. I highly recommend having a properly trained and experienced immigration lawyer but because I have had the pleasure of working with Mike Sherman and I have had the best experience ever. All my immigration needs will go through him and his office. I have placed his information here. 

 

Michael I. Sherman, Esq., Sherman Immigration Lawyers, P.C., greencards@aol.com, 248-851-7575, 26111 W. 14 Mile Road, Franklin, MI 48025

 

Happy New Year everyone, may 2019 be all you intend it to be.

I have been a nurse for almost two years already!! And just after the new year I will be starting a new job as a Birthcare nurse. With that being said this post (as the title might’ve suggested) will be about working as an international student. There are a few rules Inats have to follow if we want to work in the USA legally. Firstly, I should mention that it maybe difficult for a first semester or first year student to gain permission to work both on and off campus. However, this may vary depending on the college or university you are attending.

On-campus employment does not require authorization from USCIS but usually opportunities are few depending on your campus size and how early you start looking for employment. Rules for this category are simple. Maintain full-time status, work no more than 20 hours a week during the semester. You are allowed to work full time during vacations but you must be registered for the upcoming semester. I worked on campus at my two previous colleges and I would warn of one thing, payment will not be high dollars but it would at least give you pocket money.

There are three ways in which an Inat can work off campus.

• Severe economic hardship- To qualify for this an Inat must be a student for at least one school year and have good standing with your college. Show proof of economic hardship that was unforeseen and beyond your control. You must also show that you tried to locate an on campus job but that there was either none or that it would not be enough. If you should qualify then remember that you are only allowed to work for 20 hours a week during the semester and full time on vacations if you register full time for the next semester. An employment authorization card is need for this choice.
• Curricular Practical Training (CPT)- CPT is an alternative for work study, much like an internship the program of study must require you to be working in the field while studying. It is usually a part of the curriculum done to give real world experience. With this one you can work full time as there is no hourly limit and one can have multiple authorizations at once but it is ill-advised. Any full time work can then count against your OPT time. The university I went to didn’t even give me the option I was told no more than 20 hours a week and that’s all I knew at the time.
• Optional Practical Training (OPT)- OPT is a way to gain experience working in the field in which you study. Though one may use OPT while in school and work 20 hrs during school and 40 when school is out. However this subtracts from the amount of time you can participate in OPT after graduation. Post-graduation OPT is usually for 12-14 months.

Standard across the board as INATs we are responsible for keeping all of our documents up to date. This is inclusive of passport, I-20 (which should also have a designated school official endorsement for employment purposes), I-94 stating F-1 status. All while remembering that you came to study so you must remain in good standing with the school.

Please note that I am basing this off of my experience as a student with a F-1 visa. Please consult your international advisor at your school and follow all immigration rules.

Somewhere in your mind you know that you’ll miss your friends and family after you get on that plane and head to start this new journey. But no one ever really warns us for how lonely this journey gets at times. We put that brave face on and head out. Then we plant that fake smile the first day of class hoping we’ll pick up a new friend to help us survive the semester ahead. It’s all a facade to be honest because we’re all scared and anxious but yet excited to begin this new chapter. Then there’s a tinge of guilt you get for being excited about what’s ahead because somehow it’s correlated to being glad to leave everything else behind. That’s not the case at all; when I moved I wished I could pack my closest friend and family and either take them with me or press pause on their lives but that’s not quite possible. Sometimes it may feel as though you’re missing out on everything and honestly you will be. But during these times I usually just try to remind myself that in a few years because I missed my friends baby or wedding announcements I’ll be in or closer to being in the position I want to attain. The hardest part however comes when a love one gets sick or passes away and you’re not there. For me that’s my gran but then I thought about the look she had of pure joy and pride when she told any and everyone that I was in school to be a nurse. Knowing that I was able to make her proud and how much more it would have been now that I graduated makes it a little easier.

I’m at my third school in the US and one new start hasn’t been easier than the next but it has become a routine. One of the things  that suck with new classes is when I’m stuck with an assignment I don’t have any classmates to lean on because I don’t know any of them. Unless you live on campus, or in a club or go out of your way, you have no friends at school (this is not always true if you have a class 3-4 days a week with the same people). Which extends the to having no friends outside of class either because you’re new to the area. Become a social butterfly, introduce yourself to that person that caught your attention you never know that guy standing in front of you at the coffee shop may become your best friend all because you started a conversation.

At the end of the day yes it gets lonely and discouraging sometimes but remember you aren’t the first or the last international student to feel like this. We’ve all cried and said we wanted to go back home at some point. DON’T. All those tears, feeling alone (even though you really aren’t) really do pay off eventually. I thank God every day for my mom, family and friends back at home. They keep me sane, they encourage me to do things that sometimes I don’t even think I could do on my own and let’s not talk about the amount of times I’ve had a 3-4 man team up helping with assignments at ungodly hours. And they never complain (I love and appreciate you guys).

 

Happy Holidays Everyone!!! This post is a little different but one that I felt needed to be made. This is my first Christmas away from any type of family and I’m really missing home but I really want to thank my mom and Akela (my best friend) for encouraging me to write this one for you guys.

Looking back now I can say, “boy did I live a relatively easy life”. Before moving for school some things that I took for granted were having a helicopter mom, a sane dad and grandparents that did almost everything for me (housework related). I had to clean my room, and make the occasional meal but my grandmother’s house was the place to be, rest her soul; laundry, cleaning and food was always provided and boy did I love her so much more whenever I got sick as my gran always had the remedy. But I was about to become a broke college student with no one to help out, MAJOR crash courses in surviving on my own were about to take place.
Here are some of my tips along with things I wished I knew before moving:

• Learn to cook at least five meals and one favorite because you do crave home cooking sometimes. Yeah I knew how to cook certain things but boy do I wish I knew more before I moved. I’d call my mom a whole lot less for recipes.
• Learn to do laundry and learn to iron. I was very fortunate that I came up in a house where my guardian owned a laundromat so I can iron better than my mom but not all of us can do it well or want to. (Thanks a bunch Mrs. Drayton)
• Learn to budget. Practice living frugally before you leave home, skip a party, skip fast food, save, save, save.
• Never be afraid to ask a question or seek information. Our cultures sometimes dictate how we view privacy. Just remember you’ll be in a new place and the more you ask the more acquainted you’ll become it is a whole lot faster than figuring it out on your own.
• Research the school and place where you will be going. This is a great opportunity to learn and embrace different cultures. Keep an open mind.
• Teach your parents or grandparents to use Whatsapp, Viber or some form of free communication so you can reach them or them you.
• Have at least one formal outfit in your closet. There are few events that calls for this but the thinking that you can run out and purchase one if needed is wrong. You may be told in class to dress semi-formal for the next class in the morning, you are broke, so what do you do then?
• Cost of living is way different especially if you are going from the Caribbean to the US.
• Females learn to do your own hair and guys learn to cut your own hair. Trust me when I say this will save you so much, not just in cash but in headaches as well.
• Make friends and the quickest way to do this outside of class I would say is to join a club. It’s not as cheesy as it may sound. I joined the international student club when I was in New York and not only did I meet people who are still my friends today but I got to go places I wouldn’t have been able to without them.
• Lastly, remember the environment can also be dictated by the society you are in and it will be very different even if its family you’re going to be living with. Things may get tensed at times but respect each other and their opinions. Keep focused on your end goal and you’ll make it out alive.

Ps. Hey guys!!! So sorry this post took so long to get here. I’ve been so busy studying and getting ready to move as I start a new school in less than two weeks. Like some of you guys I’m about to be that new international student in a new area yet again so I thought this would be quite fitting. Hope you enjoyed the read. 

As promised I’m back and ready to dive head first into details about my decision and the process I took when I decided to migrate for school. From young I knew that I wanted to attend school outside of Barbados. You see, my mom left Barbados to work in the US when I was quite young and I grew up saying I never wanted to attend university at home because I basically lived next door to it. However I would say that I really decided to take moving for school seriously when I applied for community college.
Wanting to be an obstetrician for as long as I could remember I decided that whatever subject I pursued would have to be transferable. I even took courses which were not apart of my degree at the time and was unable to get credit value towards my GPA but that didn’t matter. I’ve been volunteering all my life and that kept on throughout college which is always a plus on college applications. During my volunteer experiences I realized my dream career would be one that allows me to have way more hands on and one on one experience with people. Hence me choosing to go into nursing with my second choice being that of social work.
Then came the daunting process of finding a school. I really wasn’t too hooked up on where I applied to (country-wise). So applications were sent to universities in England, Iceland and CUNY colleges in New York (which to be honest was the most tedious of the three countries, some advice call CUNY a lot and stay on top of things to get stuff going). Surprisingly to me I got into both universities I applied to in England, the University of Iceland and the community colleges I wanted in New York.
Process of elimination had now begun… England though it would have been fun I had no close relatives and then the expense was not something I wanted to really put my family through. Iceland was HIGH on my list. I was really into this idea for school especially since finances were slim and I just needed to show I was able to cover living expenses for the the first year as tuition is free. But I would have to spend my first year learning the language. Back then this played a huge role in me choosing New York, along with the fact that I had family I could stay with and friends everywhere so I wasn’t totally alone.

 With the choice made I had no time to waste. I had to get financial certificates filled out saying how I would afford school and living expenses for two years. With that taken care of I received my I-20 from the school which literally got to me on my birthday (July 27th), my visa appointment was the next day and I had to be in the US by August 1st. Some advice try not to cut it as close as I did.
Now don’t be fooled this process is not over night and especially with applying for schools in New York it can be quite aggravating at times. Whether it be the frustrations of going back and forth to previous schools (in my case secondary and community college) to get transcripts sent or the CUNY process which takes forever and each time you call you get a different answer to the same question, just remember this is just the beginning of your new journey and IT IS WORTH IT so stay the course.

I’ve battled with wanting to write a blog for just under 4 years now. So why now? Well first maybe I should have started this saying I’ve just graduated with my RN degree (my second associate) so there is a little break before starting on my Bachelors.

This decision was not taken likely as I’m not one to go into a project I can’t commit to or see any future in. I wanted to be able to share with you guys things that I was well versed in but I couldn’t come up with one general topic that would allow me more than a couple of stories. And ask anyone that knows me I surely couldn’t do a natural hair or makeup blog…

Finally it dawned on me, why not share my experience being an international student with you guys. I mean how many times have you had a question or query and googled it but couldn’t find the answer, annoying right?? Here, the plan is to go thru my experience from beginning till end. But not only answer questions based for international students but everyday college students as well. We’ll start from why I chose to migrate for school and go from there. I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts, ideas and experiences with all of you. I hope you guys get involved, let me know what you think and what you would like me to write about.