Photo courtesy of MTSU
Story by Colby Turner | Contributing Writer
Abby Schersand, a sophomore visual communications major at MTSU, was thrilled when she found out that she would be working as a resident assistant at the Global Learning Community for the 2021-2022 school year.
The seventh house on Greek Row is home to Middle Tennessee State University’s Global Learning Community (GLC), where it is recommended on their dedicated housing page to live there if you have an interest in global affairs or international study or cultures. Many study abroad students live there during their exchange semesters.
“When I heard about house seven, I was like ‘Oh my gosh, that’s so cool,’ because I knew I wanted to also study abroad someday,” said Schersand.
As a Spanish minor and a student who plans to study abroad in Spain in the next couple of years, Schersand knew that this would be an opportunity to see what it is like for people coming to live in a new culture.
Helping the international students get comfortable has been a top priority for Schersand, and it all started with learning their names.
“The first thing I did was make their nametags, so all of their doors have their names on them,” she said, “That’s really cool to me because when I lived in Cummings, I thought it was cool that my RA already knew my name.” Since the beginning of the semester, Schersand has made it a priority to create lasting memories with the students both on and off campus.
In August, Schersand created an Instagram account dedicated to the activities that go on in the GLC, aptly named @mtsuhouse7. On the account, she has posted memories of events that the students attended together, and she has even publicly advertised events for MTSU students who do not live at the house to attend.
“Outside students are always invited when we have events, but I feel like not many people know about them. We did have a movie night, and I think it went really well,” said Schersand.
“I started to Instagram because I wanted something for the international students to look back on and see all of the things we did, but I also wanted to show the general population at MTSU,” she said. Future events are currently being planned for the students at House 7, along with any MTSU student who wishes to go. “My next plan for November is to do a karaoke night, and in December, we want to do a cultural potluck,” she said.
Schersand is grateful to have this experience, even in the wake of COVID-19.
“It’s been rewarding for me even, because even though I lived on campus last year, I couldn’t make any friends. I came in and had nothing, so it’s been really cool to be like a freshman again,” said Schersand. The connections and friendships were almost instant. “Really quickly we all started hanging out in the common areas,” she said.
As she prepares for her own international travel to Spain for a study abroad trip in 2023, Schersand feels that this experience has been nothing but good. “Meeting all of these people and being able to help them has been a very good experience,” she said, “I have friends all over the world now.”
If you are interested in living in the Global Learning Community (GLC) at MTSU, visit their housing page. To keep up with the GLC, or find out more about their events, visit their Instagram page.
