UF international students exchanged numbers and munched on chocolate chip cookies and Oreos in the Hub on Thursday night.
The Campus Diplomats hosted the first Gatornational Language and Culture Fair, inviting students from all over the world to The Gator Nation, said Campus Diplomat Mokia Laisin, who planned the event.
The UF international studies and business senior said he wanted the Campus Diplomats program to offer more chances for international students to meet the greater UF community.
"We tried to reach out to all the students, and international students needed it the most," the 21-year-old said.
About 50 students and 20 Campus Diplomats attended, Laisin said. Student representatives from the UF French and German clubs also came.
Tim Klopries, a 24-year-old exchange student from Germany, went with his mentor from UF NaviGators, which gives international students classmate partners to help them transition.
Klopries, a UF international business master’s student, said students have to get out of their comfort zones.
"If you’re a foreigner that comes here, the natural thing that happens is that you tend to hang out with other foreigners," he said.
Nkanyezi Gumpo, an international freshman from Zimbabwe, attended the event and said she was also looking to meet American students.
"It’s hard to make friends with American students because they already have their own community," the 20-year-old food and resource economics student said.
Campus Diplomats encouraged students to play a game where they walked around asking for selfies and learning phrases in other languages.
Campus Diplomat Ronnie Socash, 20, said the event focused on social interaction.
"We want them to be as comfortable as possible," the UF public relations junior said.
Socash helped Laisin organize the event. He said he interviewed Laisin while Laisin was applying for Campus Diplomats. That’s when Laisin first pitched the idea.
"Here we are eight months later, and we’re doing it," Socash said.
The event will hopefully be in a larger space in the Spring, Laisin said.
UF botany freshman Kristina Zakarkaite, 18, said she liked the event because it was inviting. She grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida, but her parents immigrated from Lithuania.
"I wanted to come meet other Lithuanians," she said.
Maria A. B. Gama (left), a 22-year-old biochemistry senior, and Nurul Azma Ahmad Tarmizi, a 21-year-old food science and human nutrition junior, share a laugh at the Gatornational Language and Culture Fair at the Hub on Oct. 8, 2015. The UF Campus Diplomats hosted the event to connect international students on campus. Tarmizi said it was important to represent her country, Indonesia.
