Alicia P. Reed is the Assistant Director of International Services at Winona State University in Winona, Minnesota. International Services is one section of the International Program at Winona State, and Reed handles all matters relating to international students. Reed is able to bring a lot of her experiences to her job because she used to be an international student herself.
 

   The international student population makes up about two to three percent of the small university’s student body. The top nations where the international students are from are Taiwan, China, South Korea, Nepal, and Saudi Arabia.

  Winona State does not actively recruit overseas. “Word of mouth is big in our international recruitment,” Reed said. She said that the Egyptian and Venezuelan student body has been increasing due to word of mouth.

  Still, Winona State has been getting students from the same nations for many years now. Reed’s own personal goal is she, “would like to have more diversity when it comes to international students,” and, “I would like more countries represented.” Due to school budgets and different opinions from other school she said, “It is extremely challenging” Still, she would like to see her dream of a extremely diverse Winona State become a reality.

       Reed expressed concern that the main areas that international students are struggling are they are not preparing themselves for college life in the United States and many suffer as a result. She advises that, “before arriving to the U.S. I would recommend two things which is take the time to research where you are going,” and also “get to know your rights about immigration”

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   She says that many issues such as depression and education result to the fact that many international students do not properly prepare before they attend school in the United States.