This week, I will be blogging about Andres Interiano. Andres is a freshman here at Penn State and is originally from San Salvador, El Salvador. Andres is the first student I’m interviewing from North America. Geographically, he is the closest to America out of all the students I have interviewed. Andres is majoring in Industrial Engineering.

Andres’s family consists of his mother, father, little sister, and fraternal twin brother. His brother is also majoring in Industrial Engineering, but attends Georgia Tech. Andres is fortunate in that his family can visit him and he can visit them during holiday breaks.

Andres applied to 6 universities, all of them international. Like the other students I have spoken to, he took the TOEFL and the SAT. He also had to take El Salvador’s national test for high school students, in case things did not work out with the international schools.

Andres chose Penn State because of it’s high-ranked engineering program and the strong academic reputation of the university in general. He also had desire to attend a big school versus a small school. Andres is unique from the other students that I interviewed, he is the only one that got to visit Penn State and look at the school thoroughly. “I came to visit Penn State in the spring with my family and fell in love with the campus,” said Andres. Sports also influenced his decision, he loves playing soccer and wanted a school with a good soccer program. He was planning on playing club soccer this fall, but due to an injury is playing for an intramural team instead.

When I asked him if he likes Penn State so far, Andres said “I really like it here. I like the spirit, campus, and how nice all the people are. It’s so diverse and I’m happy here.” Like many of us, Andres can’t stand the “bi-polar weather.” “It’s so cold in the mornings, then burning hot later in the day! It’s so annoying!” he said.

Transitioning to Penn State was smooth, but challenging for Andres. “It was a really big change from where I grew up. The culture, the laws, and the school systems are so different. Even the way Americans hang out with friends and the American party scene is different.” While he did always want to attend a large university, it took some getting used to a school so much larger than his high school (I think many of us can relate.) “It was strange having so many people around me. I went to a small high school and now I go to a school with 40,000 people,” said Andres. However, once he started getting involved and making friends, Penn State began to feel like a home. He credits his roommate and good friend Francesco with helping him adjust quickly to college. Francesco is also from El Salvador, majoring in the College of Engineering, and an avid soccer player. They bonded quickly and helped each other make friends. Andres has many international friends, mostly from Central America.

While Andres does miss home sometimes, he is very excited and optimistic about the upcoming school year. His goals are “to meet new people and get good grades in school” Andres also hopes to eventually be on the soccer team.

San Salvador