Selvaratnam Brothers

Naren Deepan Selvaratnam & Naska Brian Selvaratnam

Naren Deepan Selvaratnam came to Winona State University from Sri Lanka in 2011. He said it took him about two months to adapt to society. "The way of studying is completely different. Americans don't give respect to their professors. The bottom line is you don't need to give respect."

Often times, "I am like an alien," he said. "I don't like group projects, but in my classes not everyone was bad." He has faced discrimination from students, but not from professors. The professors have been very understanding and frequently offer him assistance. "It's like I'm a student from this country," he said.

He described a situation in which he was the victim of discrimination: "One day I had to go with two girls for a small test, and they talked to me really well that day. The next day, they don't look at me. They go right in front of me and didn't notice I was coming."

Sri Lanka

"Back home, we used to smile at every person we came across," he said. "But when I came here, I thought that I need to pay people to get smiles. Very rarely a person smiles. Everyone is looking at their phones always pressing something and never looks who is there. They never know who sat next to them. We expect them to smile at us, but no one smiles."

He said students don't seem to notice who is sitting right next to them, suggesting that students are segregating themselves. He explained that prior to moving to Winona, he only experienced American culture by watching Hollywood films. Films heavily impact international students' perceptions of America. He said, "films give people the mindset that the moment they come into the U.S., everybody will talk to them. But in reality, nothing like that happens. They get very upset and stay with their own people."

If no American students are speaking to international students, they begin to speak their own language. He said, "American students can't understand, which increases the stereotypes and troubles for international students."

Naren Deepan Selvaratnam

Sri Lanka

Naren Deepan Selvaratnam

Naska Brian Selvaratnam

Naska Selvararnam is a senior at Winona State University from Sri Lanka, and is majoring in Business Administration, and he would like to get a job in Singapore.

Naska is a language aficionado. He knows four languages along with English. He took several courses in English in Sri Lanka so he felt prepared for attending college in the United States. He found out about Winona State when his school in Sri Lanka provided him with information on various colleges in the United States. Naska applied for a few and Winona State was the first to respond, so he chose to attend school there. He is currently one of nine Sri Lankan students. Among those nine is his younger brother Naren.

Naska expressed that the United States was not what he expected it to be like, and he thought it would be like in the American films he had seen. “Oh my god this is the worst,” Naska said amount his first impression of the U.S. “I have to complete this anyway so I mine as well finish this and go back to my country.”

Naska has had difficulty interacting with many Americans. He has found more of the middle-aged local citizens of Winona more welcoming. “This bad behavior is only from the younger generation and I don’t know why,” he said.

Naska said that there are very few students who are interested in learning about Sri Lanka culture. “Many students don’t even know where Sri Lanka is,” he said. Naska said he is often mistaken for other nationalities. Naska also said that he has had professors who have been culturally insensitive and he found it terrible that the professors were teaching these views to their students.

Naska has felt that there is a lot of segregation in the Winona State campus. He said that international students are often separated in the classroom, and the American and international students often do not sit or do group work together. “Very few local students interacting with international students,” Naska said. He expressed that the professors do not try to mix the American and international students together and often they put them in separate groups during group work.

Overall, his experience in the United States has not been a positive one. Naska is currently writing a book about his day-to-day experiences at college in the United States. He hopes to make other international students, especially Sri Lankans, aware about the college experience in the United States, and what to expect.

Naska Brian Selvararnam

Sri Lanka

Brothers Naren Deepan Selvaratnam & Naska Brian Selvaratnam

He explained that it's unnecessary for international students to speak English all the time because their English is not perfect, which makes it difficult to express abstract ideas. "Sometimes people get really upset with that."

He suggested solutions to help eliminate discrimination. "Students need to learn that people have physical differences, but no differences in their mind. Everyone is similar."

From an academic standpoint, he said working on group projects is one of the larger issues involving discrimination. American students and professors need to rethink working in group projects. He recalls a group project experience where he was told his English was not good enough, so he was not allowed to participate in the project.