The University of Alaska Anchorage

Alaska Adventures Await

Anchorage is a city of extremes perched at the edge of a great wilderness adventure: Alaska. Here, international students give a variety of perspectives on life in this exciting city and state.
Where is Home?
by Ekaterina Kuznetsova
I first arrived in Anchorage, Alaska, as a high school exchange student from Magadan, Russia, in August of 1993. In 1996, I came back to Alaska to study at the University of Alaska Anchorage. My five-year journey as an under¬graduate student was full of adventures. I met incredible peo¬ple who challenged me to go after my dreams. The longer I was here, the less Magadan seemed I ike home, but Anchorage wasn't home either.
By the end of my sophomore year, I rediscovered dance as a medium of self-expression and education. (I was a competitive ballroom dancer before I first came to Alaska.) My involve¬ment with the Dance Ensemble and Dance Club proved to be one of the most significant expe¬riences of my student life. The more I learned about dance tech¬nique, composition and perform¬ance, the more confidence I gained for continuing my educa¬tion in dance scholarship.
Given my enthusiasm, myadvi¬sors encouraged me to design my own degree, which allowed me to fuse communication technol¬ogy and business administration with foreign languages (French
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and Spanish) and dance scholar¬ship. Now I am a graduate of UAA with a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies and Arts Administration. This fall, I plan to start the Adult Education grad¬uate program.
Bei ng a foreign student is not easy, but it is a rewarding adven¬ture. I have corne a long way in my search for horne. Home is not far at all; it is all around me when I talk to my family on the tele¬phone, spend time with friends, when I dream and when I dance.
Advice for the Interested
by Anders Wennerstrom
For a Swede, life here is easy, if somewhat expensive. Anchorage is a little colder, a little darker and gets a little more snow than I'm used to, living in the far south of Sweden. But the adjustment is fairly easy. People are friendly, in
that "American" kind of way ¬outgoing, easy to talk to.
Some advice if you come here: Get a car. There's a reason all Americans have cars. The pub¬lic transportation system is noth¬ing like what I'm used to. And the city sprawls. It looks like space was never really an issue. There's quite a bit of it to go
around in a state with a popula¬tion a tenth of Sweden's.
For the outdoors fan, there is much to do here. But that's not all. Anchorage has bars, clubs, shopping, theatres, a symphony - and even an opera company! It's a real city, at least according to Swedish standards. I guess that's why they say Anchorage isn't really a part of Alaska.
How to look Alaskan in three easy steps: Grow a beard. If you're a woman, you already know you don't need a beard to shoot moose or chase off bears, but for men having one helps.
Get Carhartts. (It's a brand of sturdy outdoor clothing, every¬one has Carhartt pants.) Wear a woolen hat - all the time - or a baseball cap. Or both.
A Rewarding Opportunity
by Maxim Sorokoletov
I came to Alaska from the Republ ic of Uzbekistan. Studying as an international stu¬dent at the University of Alaska Anchorage offers me an oppor¬tunity to become familiarwith a new culture and to enjoy com¬munication and friendship with students from different cultural backgrounds and traditions.
Back row, left to right: Taniesh Lue, Belize; Maxim Sorokoletov, Uzbekistan; Ekaterina Kuznetsova, Russian Far East. Front row, left to right: Michiko Takeda, Japan; Anders Wennerstrom, Sweden. Photography by Michael Dineen/UAA, 2001.


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Alaska is an interesting and fascinating place to live. The nature is wonderful, and if you haven't seen the northern lights (aurora borealis), this is the place to see them.

The university offers a great education, a variety of majors, and career advancement opportunities to its students. There are a lot of opportu¬nities for involvement in stu¬dent life: intramural sports, stu¬dent clubs and student organi¬zations. My experience here is incredibly rewarding and brings me great satisfaction.

Friendly Alaskans

by Taniesh Lue

I left Belize in Central America to study at the University of Alaska Anchorage one and a


half years ago. I love living in Alaska. Yes, Alaska does have short summers and long win¬ters but there are advantages to this! For example, there are many activities to do dur¬ing the summer, like camping, hiking or sightseeing. In win¬ter you can go snow boarding or skiing or just go to watch ice sculptors.

Many international students suffer cultural shock. I dealt with it by joining school clubs and talking to other foreign students to see how they were coping. I learned a lot from them. I made other very good friends. I found that Alaskans are the friend I iest people. My friends are evidence of that! Now I don't even want to think about leaving Alaska because I will miss my friends so much!


Sharing Is My Experience by Michiko Takeda

I came to Alaska from Japan eight years ago in order to improve my English skills. I acquired a bachelor's degree in Art at UAA, and I am currently enrolled in a Master's of Adult Education pro¬gram to become a Japanese lan¬guage teacher. I am also enjoy¬ing the opportunity to teach a Japanese class at UAA as an adjunct faculty member.

I encountered some difficul¬ties when I first got to Alaska. When I did not understand the class materials and had a hard time talking in English, people were helpful and patient, lis¬tened to what I wanted to say and gave me lots of technical help and emotional support.


One of the advantages of stud¬ying in Alaska are the small class sizes which make it easy to get to know the instructors as well as classmates, creat¬ing an enjoyable and comfort¬able learning atmosphere.

UAA is also very open to oth¬er cultures. I have attended several international events, cooked Japanese food such as tempura and sushi, and shared my Japanese culture, while getting to know other cultures, such as Russian and German.

I feel fortunate to be a stu¬dent at UAA, receiving a good quality education in a comfortable learning environ¬ment, while having lots of opportunities to meet good people who enjoy learning by sharing cultures.

University of Alaska Anchorage

Anchorage, AK  99508
Main Office Phone 907-786-1900
Fax 907-786-1079

Website: www.uaa.alaska.edu