Empowering Connections Through Skills

Cross-Cultural Program Design & Facilitation in Action

As a Student Coordinator at Xiamen University in China, I supported international students navigating an unfamiliar educational system while managing my own experience as an international student. I quickly learned that effective support required more than language translation—it meant anticipating cultural disconnects before students recognized them, from classroom participation norms to administrative processes that assumed cultural knowledge students didn't yet have. When a group of incoming students struggled to understand dormitory registration procedures, I didn't just translate the forms—I created a step-by-step guide with visual aids and hosted informal Q&A sessions where students felt safe asking "basic" questions. I also facilitated peer connections between international students from different regions, recognizing that shared experiences of navigating unfamiliarity could build powerful support networks. This experience taught me that cross-cultural facilitation means standing in the gap between systems and people, making the invisible visible, and creating spaces where asking for help is normalized rather than stigmatized. I now bring this same approach to my work at Syracuse University, always asking: What cultural knowledge am I assuming, and how can I make access more equitable?