Daniel Ortega-Pacheco heard a bundle of stories about international students' struggles as an MSU International Students Association board member last year.
Ortega-Pacheco, an agricultural economics graduate student from Ecuador, said Americans don't often understand the difficulties international students face.
"What people don't see is these international students are running short on money, just like any other college students, they're homesick and they're miles and miles away from their families," he said.
A series of meetings between international students and local businesses look to strengthen the connection between the business community and MSU international students.
Led by the MSU Office for International Students & Scholars Director Peter Briggs, the meetings are part of the OISS effort to ease the struggles of international students coming to a new country, school and home.
"We want to make sure our international students feel welcome here and that we improve some of the entry pathways for these students into more aspects of the community," Briggs said.
International students contributed more than $90 million to Lansing's economy in 2006, according to the Institute of International Education.
Last week's meeting was a brainstorming session between international students and CEOs of six local companies, he said. The next meeting, now scheduled for the first week in September, will involve more concrete planning in welcoming international students as customers and employees.
Ortega-Pacheco said some of the more pleasant experiences international students have take place when they come in contact with businesses as customers.
"When you go to a store and you're buying something, obviously the business people are usually going to be nice to you," he said.
Adam Seyburn, manager at Ned's Bookstore, 135 E. Grand River Ave., said international students get the same experience all customers have when they enter the bookstore.
"If anybody needs a book, we'll help them find a book," Seyburn said. "We treat all students the same."
Difficulties can arise when international students struggle with communicating with the bookstore staff, but that hasn't stopped the students from getting what they need, he said.
The bookstore typically hires international students at fall and spring rushes when students are buying or selling back their books. While that may improve communication between bookstore staff and international students, the ability to speak English is still important.
"I wouldn't say we have a concentrated enough customer base to make the ability to speak another particular language an asset," he said.
While a business may welcome international students, customers aren't always as inclusive, said Kaustav Mukherjee, MSU International Students Association president.
Mukherjee, who is from India, said he was grocery shopping with friends when another customer asked him if he and his friends were terrorists.
"There is a definite lack of knowledge about other cultures," he said. "This person honestly didn't know and thought it was a legitimate question."
