GOSHEN, Ind. – Eleven percent of students at Goshen College are international, coming from over thirty different countries around the world. Of that eleven percent, forty-eight are student athletes. But, why come to GC?
Tim Wilkening, a men’s soccer player from Weinheim, Germany, says, “I basically fall in love a little bit with that imagination of playing and studying in the USA because I like that US mentality of never giving up.” This is Wilkening’s second college, after a season ending injury at his first.
Syanne Mohamed, a basketball player from Zimbabwe/Poland, says that she originally committed to a different school to play basketball, “Then I got a phone call from Coach Miller and her assistant and they told me ‘Come to Goshen College, just check it out and stuff like that’ and I said, ‘I already committed though’ and they were like, ‘that’s okay, just come and see if you like it or not,’ and I loved the school and I just came here.”
For Pedro Scattolo, Goshen College was his first choice to play tennis, “I think the programs are very nice, to study and play sports is very nice. It’s something that we don’t have in our countries.”
Finding out about the Maple Leafs takes some work, like working with coaches, agencies, and even admissions counselors at GC.
Kellam Venosky has been a counselor for the past eight years and says there’s more international students now, “There’s been a good amount of international students at Goshen College historically, but over the last, say four, five years, it’s really increased in number.”
The amount of different backgrounds is something the students enjoy, Wilkening says, “You come together with guys from all over the world, different languages, different cultures.” Mohamed agrees, “I love my team, like we are a family. I have sixteen sisters, because I’m the seventeenth.”
Playing their sports and their fields of study are points that lead them to GC, but one major factor allows them to attend school. They rely on athletic scholarships so that they can live their dreams of playing in the states.
To future Goshen College international student athletes, Venosky says, “With thirty-two countries represented currently, around forty different faith traditions, Goshen College really is a place for everyone.”
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