Orientation/Pre-Arrival

The International Education Office offers a variety of support services for students and scholars. If you need assistance at anytime, please contact the International Education Office at 480-461-7758 or email at mccintadmissions@mesacc.edu.

Orientation - Welcome! Come and Join Us!

The 2013 International Orientation will take place on January 9th at 10am in the Kiva Room in the Kirk Center on the Southern and Dobson campus. Please download the agenda here.

Pre-Arrival - What to Bring?

Immigration Documents

Make copies of all your documents and make a list of all your valuable items just in case they get lost or stolen. Obtaining replacement documents and articles can be time consuming and costly if you do not have records.

• Passport
• Visa
• I-94 card (arrival and departure record)
• I-20AB/I-20ID

Other Important Items

• Airline tickets
• Credit cards
• Emergency contact information
• Medicines and prescriptions
• Birth Certificate (copy)
• Transcripts and educational documents (extra copies)
• Electrical Adapter (voltage in U. S. is 110)

Clothing

Arizona has some of the best weather in the nation between the months of September through May. The temperature will average 65-75 degrees fahrenheit (18 - 24 celcius degrees) during the day and 35-45 °F (2 - 7 °C) at night. Our summer months, June through August, can reach temperatures of over 100 °F (43 °C).

Light cotton clothing is recommended for most of the year if you are living in the greater Phoenix area. Most people dress very casual in the summer months. Many students wear shorts and light cotton blouses or t-shirts to campus. Many stores sell very light cotton long sleeve blouses or t-shirts to avoid getting sunburns. They are made from a special "wicking" material that allows perspiration to evaporate quickly and leave you feeling cooler, yet protected.

Our winter temperatures can be chilly, reaching temperatures of 50 - 60 °F (11 - 15 °C). During winter months, you will need jeans, sweaters and a light jacket. If you leave the greater Phoenix area to visit cities located in higher elevations, you will need heavier and warmer clothing during the winter months. It snows in many places such as Flagstaff, Prescott, Show Low and Payson. All these cities and towns are only about 1 - 2 hour car drive.

In addition to recommended clothing items, we strongly recommend you always wear sunscreen with a minimum sun protection factor of 15, sunglasses and a hat in the summer months.

Arrival Resources

A local Asian church, International Baptist Church of Arizona, provides the following resources for new Asian students to MCC. Please note that MCC is not affiliated with this church, and the services that they provide are of their own accord.

Asian international students who need some help can arrange for the appropriate resources to meet their needs. They provide the followings services:

• Pickup and drop off at Sky harbor airport,
• Locate apartment before student enter US,
• Provide transportation to grocery/furniture/department stores once every week,
• Provide guidelines for student to find temporary living residence,
• Provide local transportation, weather, and etc information to aid students adopt to the new environment,
• Our contact information:
  David Day (480-784-7936) davidday47@gmail.com
  Wilson Cheung (480-559-4713) taswilsonckl@gmail.com

They can serve students speak in Chinese, Cantonese, Tagalog, Japanese, and Korean. Once again, please feel free to contact us for additional information.

Housing

Download our Housing Resources guide here.

What to Expect - Adjusting to the U.S. Quickly and Comfortably

Explore - Get familiar with your environment

• Go on a campus tour
• Talk to the office staff, faculty and students in your department.
• Ask a student or staff member if they would show you around the department.
• Attend local events and seminars (see Current Magazine, The Record and The Michigan Daily newspapers for listings).
• Enjoy walks around the College

Learn Cultural Norms - Pay attention to other people's behavior

• How do they greet each other?
• How do they line up for a bus? How do people seat themselves on a bus?
• How do people interact in professional settings, like offices? in the classroom? in a store? on the street?

Be Slow to Judge

• Ask someone who knows the culture about your observations. Be sure to ask "why" people do what they do.
• Compare how things are both similar and different in your country. These comparisons may offer you a new, insightful perspective on your own culture.

Go to events where you can meet new people

• MCC International Education programs
• MCC International Student Association meetings and events
• Speakers, workshops, and "brown bag" seminars
• Intramural sports
• Student groups

Be open to starting conversations

• With students and scholars
• With students and people in the community from your own country who have been in the U.S. for awhile.
• MCC staff and faculty
• Other people you meet out in the community (in restaurants and stores, at the library, on public transportation, etc.)

Read

• Local newspapers (The Arizona Republic, East Valley Tribune, AZ Central.com, USA Today)
• Magazines
• Books about American culture and etiquette