St. Louis U. High’s One World Club welcomed students from around the world with their annual International Student Welcome this Wednesday. Students from Chile, Poland, South Korea, and Colombia were welcomed into the SLUH community through a celebration held in the Currigan Room, equipped with food, gifts, and connection.

^{International students with the Jr. Billiken, Principal Megan Menne, and President Matt Stewart, SJ.  photo | Owen Williams}

The One World Club, part of the Global Education Program, planned this welcome event for all the current international students and their host students. The event was open to all students. 

“The idea of the international welcome event is to give them the welcome they deserve and show our appreciation,” said One World Club moderator Maria-Paz Erker. “When our SLUH students go to other Jesuit schools abroad, their communities really treat them like rock stars.”

Senior Henry Hassenstab kickstarted the event by welcoming all who had attended, and inviting SLUH President Matt Stewart, SJ, to lead in prayer. The event also attended by Interim Principal Megan Menne, Assistant Principal of Wellness and Discipline Brock Kesterson, and StuCo President Joe Talleur.

After the introduction, Hassenstab, Erker, and Global Education Director Rob Chura invited the international students to come up by country and receive their gifts and to take pictures of the group. Last to be called up however, was freshman Jack Joonki, a student from South Korea who will be attending SLUH all four years as a regular student.

Finally, it was time for the social to begin. Students were invited up to take food, drinks, and have conversations with each other. 

“At the start, all the international students sat at the same table, and everybody else at a different table,” said senior One World Club leader Patrick Gattas. “But they started to sit amongst each other, and it was really cool just to see all the conversation happening, all the bonding between cultures and students.”

The purpose of the One World Club International Student Welcome is to not only welcome international students, but to make Jr. Bills aware of their presence in the school. It is a common occurrence for SLUH students to not be aware of students currently visiting, and while a welcome event cannot be arranged for each group of students, the international student welcome can help bring SLUH students to be more comfortable interacting with foreign people their own age. 

“I think we can learn lots of things from the exchange students. We can learn to understand other cultures, and understand the differences between us,” said Gattas. “We can be better global citizens, and we really want all these students to feel like they’re a part of SLUH.”

The SLUH One World Club hosts this event every year, and many other exciting and informative events throughout the year. With special meetings like the Festival of Nations and guest speakers talking about global education, the One World Club spans a variety of topics from cultural literacy to immigration and labor issues.

“The One World Club leadership team meets to organize an event like this,” said Erker. “The moderators fulfill some of the tasks that the students can’t do as easily, but most of the event is organized as a team effort.” 

The event itself has been a yearly occurrence for the past six years, making an appearance for every year the One World Club has existed at SLUH. 

“I think we have reached the moment in which I personally, as the moderator, feel very happy,” said Erker. “And I think the event on Wednesday was very successful.”

While the location of the welcome was quite limited in space, tons of SLUH students packed the Currigan Room. Although officially considered a private event, students who had never heard of the One World Club, especially large numbers of freshmen, helped devour all of the food supplies bought for the celebration. 

With all the international students around the school, SLUH students have been interacting with new points of view and practicing their language skills. 

“We should all try to get to know these guys,” said Gattas. “They’re just looking for someone to talk to, someone to get to know, and just to make friends. They want to bring memories back with them that’ll last a lifetime.”