Students from more than 100 countries have the opportunity to rely on the office of International Student Services. It offers assistance with admissions and immigration to academic advising and university transfer.

“ISS is sort of a college within the college, we do everything from point A to point Z,” said the coordinator of International Student Services at Valencia College’s West Campus, Yonitha Berryhill. Her job is to help students meet the college and immigration requirements to enroll in future semesters at Valencia.

International Student Services at both East and West campus are known for their collaborations with different clubs and organizations through the college. The primary population attending the events regarding these partnerships are international students, who can enjoy field trips, meet and greets, as well as parties provided by the department.
The International Student team frequently offers employment workshops and cultural events, such as the International Education Week, that happens usually in November. This particular event helps with the engagement of students who are already involved in college to help other students to become more socially involved around campus.

“Everyone who work there [ISS] treated me very well and made me feel welcome in Valencia,” said Gabriela Valeiro, who is a paralegal student from Brazil and is searching for a second degree at Valencia College. “Sometimes I go over there just to talk to them [International Students advisors]. They make me happy,” she concluded.

“Here we try to make the processes as smooth as possible for the students. Moving to another country to study can be a very daunting task for our international students,” said Martin Rios, a staff assistant at International Student Services on East Campus. “Our focus is to make sure that international students have an environment they feel comfortable in so they can focus on their education,” added Rios.
The ISS tries to provide a friendly environment to everyone the moment they walk into the advising office. Within the ISS advising office there are different academic advisors that international students can meet with. This is also the location of different meet and greet events held during the school year for the international students to socialize with each other.

Learning through cultural awareness has led to the Valencia International Students Services to become very successful in its attempts to better students time at Valencia. “Students are our priority here,” said Berryhill.