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Show Windstorm damage Open to our regular section for full coverage 7 GRADUATION - FALL 2011 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2011 and more photos. tv. g PHOTOS BY SPENCER GARN I THE SIGNPOST Above: An overturned dumster near Stewart Stadium. Below left: A shattered window in the Shepherd Union Building. Below right: an overturned fence near Promontory Tower. International continued from page A2 a party at 7, then people arrive at 7:30. . . . Overall, there's a lot of things that overlap between the two cultures, I think, but I think that probably the language - I mean, not English, but just understanding what you guys mean with the words that you guys use." Karen Garcia, SEVIS coordinator for International Student Services at WSU, said foreign students tend to experience many cultural shocks upon coming to Utah, and, while some students want to stay at WSU longer come graduation time, others are more excited to get back home. This is often because students from certain countries often do not have the freedom to go back home to visit and then return to WSU, as Chiquillo plans. "Some of the students are really excited to go back because of the difference in cultures; they're excited to go home because of the fact that they have been here for four or five years," Garcia said. "Depending what country they're from, sometimes they're allowed to go home back and forth, and some of them are not. So they may have been here for four or five years and never seen their family in all that time." Chiquillo said he is most excited to go back to El Salvador to see his family and to enjoy the warmer weather. He said his degree will help him with his mother's clothing manufacturing business, a field he said he would like to stay in. "I work for a clothing manufacturer - it's actually my mother's I guess it's more a business side, but there are a couple things I can use or do to improve the competitive advantage of my mother's manufacturer operations - like, for ex- ample, having a brand to sell to the final customer . . . Right now we just sell to distributors or retailers in the United States." Chiquillo said he would like to both stay with his mother's business and possibly start his own. He said he is particularly interested in manufacturing children's clothing. Both Chiquillo and Garcia said they think the experience of going to a university in the U.S. is generally beneficial for international students. "I'm really excited about graduating. . . . And I think it was a good experience to come to another place from a different place," Chiquillo said. "I think, if it's possible for people to get more experience, I think they should go for it." fellow graduates' attire. "People (were) taping things to the top of their tassels so they (were) identifiable," San Juan said. Schow recommended that people wear casual business attire. However, it is not required. Purses, wallets, phones and cameras are not permitted to be carried during the ceremony, although she said the location for the ceremony, the Dee Events Center, is able to hold personal belongings and is not responsible for lost or stolen items. "These items could be cumbersome as they walk across the stage and shake hands with theft deans," Schow added. dents are taking a bit longer to graduate is the financial factor. Any student who might have lost financial aid or is paying for tuition out of pocket might be taking breaks between semesters to save up enough money. Along with that, many students have jobs they need to schedule around. Some have multiple jobs, while others are working part-time jobs to help pay for tuition costs. Of WSU students, 27 percent of WSU students work a fulltime job and 42 percent work part-time. Other factors like changing majors, church missions, doubling up on ma- jors or transferring from other schools can also be a hindrance to the four-year plan. "I switched my major three times," Baer said. "I started out with elementary education, then I decided to go for English with a communications minor, but I liked my communication classes so much that I changed to a communication major. That kind of made it even worse. My GPA took a nosedive, and then I got pregnant with my daughter and was really ill, so I couldn't take classes." Comment on this story at wsusignpost.corn. Gown continued from page A2 PHOTO BY SPENCER GARN I THE SIGNPOST PHOTO BY SPENCER GARN I THE SIGNPOST Deric San Juan, another spring 2011 graduate, said he chose to wear a pinstriped Hugo Boss suit. Drawing from his experience, he suggested to those graduating to wear something formal but comfortable. "It's going to be a long but exciting day," San Juan said. He also recalled an interesting thing about his Comment on this story al wsusignpost.corn. 4- year continued from page A2 ma PHOTO BY BRYAN BUTTERFIELD I THE SIGNPOST A construction worker skirts the site of new student housing that was damaged by winds Thursday. At least three block walls at the site toppled over. as easy when factoring in family life. Communication major Candice Baer is one of these nontraditional students. She is a single mother of two children. Because of circumstances such as raising her children, being ill and changing her major, Baer said she estimates it will take her closer to eight years to graduate from WSU. "If you're a parent, you have to work a full-time job while going to school, which makes it really hard to carry a full workload," Baer said. "Even working a part-time job was too much with a full load and kids." Another reason why stu- Comment on this story at wsusignpost.corn. PHOTOS BY SPENCER GARN I THE SIGNPOST Above: Facilities management trucks block the entrance to the Stewart Stadium parking lot after a large piece of the buildings roof came off and broke into pieces Thursday. Say HELLO to us on twitter. Sigh t681 WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY WI II itter.com i npo t |