For Staff

🌐 Online Certificate: International Students 101

Add content as you have it now, but with strong section headers:

• 👋 Who This Is For

• 🎓 Course Overview

• 🎥 Module Highlights

• 🌱 Why This Matters

• 🙌 For Supervisors

• 🎯 Want to Bring This to Your Whole Team?

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A Starting Point for Deeper Understanding and Stronger Support

👋 Who This Is For

This course is designed for higher education staff and faculty who may not directly serve international students in an official capacity, but who do interact with them in meaningful ways — in residence halls, advising sessions, classrooms, and more.

Whether you’re new to your role or simply looking to better understand the international student experience, this training offers a compassionate, research-informed starting point.

🎓 Course Overview: International Students 101

Format: Short, self-paced online course
Certificate: Digital badge of completion
Time Commitment: ~30 minutes total
Access: Free for individuals, scalable for institutions

🎥 What’s Included

📌 Module 1: The Journey of an International Student (Video with Dr. Lemon – 10–15 mins)

A personal, story-driven overview of what international students go through — from pre-arrival dreams to on-campus realities. Learn about:

• Cultural transitions & academic pressures

• Identity shifts and homesickness

• Language insecurity and “quietness”

• Visa limitations and hidden stress

• What students wish you knew

📌 Module 2: What Belonging Looks Like (and Doesn’t) (Interactive content – 5–10 mins)

How everyday interactions — even in housing, campus events, or admin emails — can foster (or hinder) a sense of belonging.

• “Small things are big” moments

• Avoiding unintentional exclusion

• The role of empathy in daily practice

📌 Module 3: The Basics You Need to Know (Quick facts – 5–7 mins)

• Who counts as an international student (and who doesn’t)

• Visa basics: what staff should understand

• Common assumptions vs. real challenges

📌 Module 4: What You Can Do — Right Now (Checklist + reflection – 5 mins)

• 5 simple ways to make international students feel seen

• Tips for inclusive communication

• When and how to refer for extra support

🌱 Why This Matters

International students are navigating complex emotional, cultural, and academic landscapes — often invisibly. And yet, every staff or faculty member they encounter plays a role in shaping whether they feel like they belong.

This course helps ensure that no matter your job title, you have the cultural insight and empathy to support students who’ve come a long way — and are hoping to be seen.

🙌 For Supervisors: A Simple Onboarding Resource

Supervisors can direct new team members here as part of onboarding or professional development. It’s a quick, meaningful way to build cross-cultural awareness across your department.

🎯 Want to bring this to your whole team or institution?
Contact us to learn about group access, customized versions, or workshops that go deeper.

TAB: Programs for Students

🍋 For International Students: Empowerment Workshop Series

Support Your International Students from the Inside Out

These workshops are designed for international students — but built for the staff who want to see them grow. We a series of transformative workshops designed to help international students not just succeed — but thrive with confidence, purpose, and belonging. These workshops can be delivered individually, as a bundled series, or customized to fit your campus initiative. These sessions help students turn their “lemons” into lasting strengths.

🎯 Purchase these workshops as a gift of growth for your students.
Perfect for: International centers, career services, DEI offices, academic departments, and student life teams.

🌟 1. Beyond the Résumé: Career Mindset & Networking for International Students

What It’s About:
In the U.S., career prep is more than GPA and a résumé — it’s about mindset, networking, and owning your story. This workshop demystifies the unwritten rules of career development for international students. We help them understand what “networking” really means in this culture — and how to build relationships with confidence and authenticity.

Students will learn to:

• Shift from passive to proactive job-seeking

• Navigate the “hidden curriculum” of the U.S. job market

• Build their personal brand and make meaningful connections

• Embrace a “farmer’s mindset” for long-term networking, not short-term gain

✨ “Networking isn’t job-hunting — it’s relationship-building.”

🌱 2. Lemon to Power: Transforming Weaknesses into Strengths

What It’s About:
Many international students internalize their differences as deficits. This workshop invites students to reframe those “weaknesses” — accents, cultural gaps, uncertainty — as their greatest assets. It’s a mindset shift rooted in confidence, compassion, and identity development.

Students will learn to:

• Embrace their full cultural and linguistic identities

• Challenge negative self-talk and imposter syndrome

• Build confidence through vulnerability and self-acceptance

• Develop tools to thrive as leaders with lived global experience

“It’s not about becoming someone else. It’s about becoming more of who you already are.”

🎤 3. Beyond the Accent: Public Speaking with Confidence & Uniqueness

What It’s About:
International students often avoid the spotlight — not because they lack ideas, but because they fear judgment. This workshop builds public speaking skills through empowerment, not perfection. Students learn to speak with their accent, from their background, and into their power.

Students will:

• Practice structured and impromptu speaking in a safe, affirming space

• Develop posture, voice, and delivery skills grounded in cross-cultural communication

• Present their own stories in a TED-style showcase

• Gain confidence for presentations, interviews, and class participation

💬 “It’s not about sounding like everyone else. It’s about sounding like yourself — with clarity and confidence.”

🍋 Additional Workshop Tracks (Customize Your Series)

💼 Career Confidence & Networking

• Networking in the U.S.: Why it feels weird — and how to make it yours

• Career Mindset for International Students: Beyond job titles — leading with your story

• From Résumé to Relationships: Redefining job search as connection-building

🌱 Mindset & Empowerment

• Turning Weakness Into Strength: Reframing cultural difference as leadership strength

• The Belonging Mindset: How to thrive without losing who you are

• You Are Enough — Now Grow: Self-worth, self-talk, and identity development

🗣️ Communication & Confidence

• Public Speaking for Quiet Voices: Building presence, voice, and courage

• Power of Nunchi in Communication: Reading the room, responding with cultural insight

• Intercultural Communication Skills: Navigating group work, collaboration, and conflict

🎓 Bonus Add-On Modules

Perfect for institutions that want a comprehensive student development offering.

• U.S. Job Search + Visa Navigation 101

• On-Campus Employment Training

• Pre-Arrival Orientation + Culture Shock Toolkit

• Peer Mentorship / Buddy Program Design & Training

Each topic can be delivered as:

• A single workshop

• A short series

• A campus-wide initiative

✅ Each topic available as a single session, short series, or full initiative.

📈 Pre/post assessments available for impact tracking and optional student showcase available.

📢 Optional showcase inviting staff/faculty to hear student voices.