Indiana University Athletics
International Student-Athletes Thrive at Indiana University
12/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Student-Athlete Services
February 8, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - While moving to the United States from another country may prove to be a daunting task for the bulk of international students heading to Bloomington to attend Indiana University, several Hoosier student-athletes have thrived since making IU their home. Tennis players David Bubenicek and Cecile Perton and water polo attacker Kristen Zernicke, all juniors on their respective teams, recently earned Scholastic Achievement Awards for the highest cumulative grade point average on their team.
Each of the trio found different personal obstacles that they had to overcome along the way to attaining this high level of academic success. Remarkably, they each discovered their own way of tackling each difficulty. Hailing from Kromeriz, Czech Republic, Bubenicek ran into every college student's worst nightmare - homework.
"For me, my biggest adjustment was getting used to doing homework," Bubenicek said. "It is like working every day. At home, I just needed to study for exams. As far as learning the language, I had to get used to terms. I just kept listening. I got used to the speed of speech from the teachers. I also worked on my vocabulary and found the words on the Internet."
Meanwhile, Briey, France, product Perton's greatest challenge proved to be learning English while trying to perform at a high level both academically and athletically in a much different learning culture.
"I had to learn English when I came to IU," Perton said. "Also, school is different here. You have to prepare before you come to class. In France, you go to class and then you review what you learned. When I first came, I did not know what to do with my syllabus. I had a tough time the first few days."
Even though Zernicke, a native of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, did not have to battle a language barrier, she did encounter the great deal of work expected of a Division I student-athlete.
"I really had to work on time management skills," Zernicke said. "The team has been really helpful. They gave me a lot of tips. I also relied on the tutoring program at IU."
After overcoming a large variety of personal obstacles over their past two-and-a-half years of school, each had a piece of advice for future international student-athletes heading to Bloomington.
"Don't get discouraged," Bubenicek said. "If it doesn't work well in the beginning, it will get better later when you get used to it. Patience is a really big thing for your studies." Meanwhile, Perton offered a similar piece of advice.
"Just do not be scared," Perton said. "Just come here to have fun. It is not that hard once you get through that first semester."
On a different tangent, Zernicke reminds incoming international student-athletes about the wealth of services available to them.
"Make sure you use the resources available to you," Zernicke said. "Keep in touch with your team and academic advisors. Also, get into study groups and talk to your teachers. Just try to stay ahead."
