By DYLAN SMITH, NEWS3 Reporter
MACOMB, Illinois (NEWS3) — Kim Jaeglin is an international student at Western Illinois University and is native to France. She represents one of the four students at WIU who are from France.
Jaeglin came to the United States to achieve a Masters in Business Administration (MBA), but has traveled all over the world for other academic opportunities. Jaeglin was not alone when she came to WIU. With the support of two roommates who are also from France, coming to America has been an even more enjoyable experience.
“It’s great to have a support system you already have,” Jaeglin said. “It’s also nice to go to a country where you don’t know anyone, and then it forces you to bond fast with other people.”
“When you go [to another country] for a year it’s convenient to have other people that you can relate to so well.”
As an international student who already has a bachelor’s degree, how does one from France end up at Western Illinois University?
“I never thought that I would want to be in the U.S., specifically,” Jaeglin said. “It happened because of the program I chose. It was not me picking the destination. I picked a program and as it turns out, the destination was the United States.”
By the time Jaeglin achieves an MBA, she will have spent one full school year in the United States. In Jaeglin’s time so far, she has learned about other students’ culture just as other students have learned about French culture.
“Being French, here, you get asked about U.S. stereotypes or how do the French view the U.S.,” she said. “There are a lot of topics where we have very different cultural preferences, it’s interesting.”
Jaeglin said that food and family is what she misses the most about France. While she is enjoying her time in the U.S., she looks to incorporate international travel while in the workforce after graduation.
