By Jenna Birdwell, Staff Reporter
As a high school student in Taipei, Taiwan, Luke Lin was a star guard for the Song Shan Senior High basketball team. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for eager fans to stop Lin on the street for a photo. The fame was something Lin had become accustomed to but now, as a freshman at CSUDH, Lin has been learning to get used to the feeling of being relatively unknown.
“I can do anything I want to do,” Lin told The Bulletin.
Thousands of students from around the world participate in distance learning programs at Dominguez Hills. According to the CSUDH Office of International Education, the university hosts approximately 4,000 students from more than 60 countries every year. For international student-athletes like Lin, a sports marketing major who plays on the Toro men’s squad, these programs not only offer a chance to compete at a high level but an opportunity to embrace a new culture.
Senior Katie McDermott fell in love with soccer at the age of 5, but growing up in Bunbury, Western Australia, there were few opportunities to play at the college level. If she wanted to pursue both her passion and an education, McDermott knew she’d have to pack her cleats for the U.S. For a while, McDermott thought she was the only Australian at CSUDH.
Senior defender Katie McDermott surveys the field during a game against Fresno Pacific at Toro Stadium on September 11. McDermott said there were few opportunities to compete as a student-athlete in her hometown of Bunbury, Western Australia. (Jenna Birdwell, The Bulletin)
“I didn’t really meet many international people last semester,” recalled McDermott, who studies business marketing. “I noticed that there’s an exchange student in my class from Australia and I heard her speaking and I was like, ‘oh my gosh,’ she sounds like she’s from Australia.”
Meanwhile, sophomore men’s soccer players Sei Aitoku and Cland Iwasaki were well aware of each other’s game long before they arrived at Dominguez Hills. Aitoku and Iwasaki had competed against each other as juniors in their hometown of Yokohama, Japan. These days, they work together to navigate college life on and off the pitch.
Sophomore men’s soccer players Sei Aitoku and Cland Iwasaki once competed against each other in their hometown of Yokohama, Japan. As Toros, they rely on each other to navigate life as a student-athlete living in Los Angeles. (Jenna Birdwell, The Bulletin)
“It’s interesting, almost everything … you know, there’s other nationalities like Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and other Chinese,” Aitoku said. “I’m able to [experience other] cultures, some food, and then language.”
Iwasaki echoed Aitoku’s appreciation for exploring the various communities in Los Angeles – although there’s still a bit of a culture shock.
“In Japan, [I] tend not to say my opinion,” Iwasaki said. “[People here in the U.S.] say their opinion.”
LA may be louder and bolder than what they’re used to in Japan, but Aitoku and Iwasaki said their teammates have made them feel at home at Dominguez Hills. The duo said their teammates have invited them to hang out at the beach and other activities.
The culture shock affected each of these student athletes differently, but all have had a similar experience with the surrounding areas outside of campus life.
“One of the biggest things was the ease of [how] it’s so easy to be a consumer here,” McDermott confessed. The overwhelming adventures to be had in LA has been the most exciting part of living in Southern California for every one of these international students.
These athletes represent CSUDH while playing and wearing maroon gear on the field or court, but also represent their home countries as well.
