By: Hunter Boschert
This issue of the International Student Spotlight travels almost 4,000 miles to the east to Stoke-On-Trent, England. Callum Southern, a sports administration major with minors in marketing, communications, and exercise science, has lived there his whole life. Known as “Stoke” to the locals, it is recognized for its pottery and fine china. It has been nicknamed “The Potteries” and is about an hour from the well-known city of Manchester.
Q: What are you involved in on Bellarmine’s campus?
A: I am on the Bellarmine soccer team, a consultant at the Writing Center, student worker at the SuRF, and just acquired another position in the testing center.
Q: What do you miss most about being home?
A: I miss all of his friends and family, of course, and especially the home-cooked meals. However, I really miss the laid-back culture. Whenever I message friends back home it always seems like they are at the pub.
Q: What is your favorite U.S. city?
A: So far my favorite city would have to be Chicago. It really fits the stereotypical U.S. city to a tee.
Q: What is your favorite hide-away in Louisville?
A: I like going to coffee shops and my favorite currently is Please & Thank You on Market Street downtown.
Q: Why did you choose to come to America and more specifically Bellarmine?
A: I wanted to do something different and more ambitious than all of my other friends I went to school with. College sports in England are nothing like they are here, and I knew if I wanted to continue playing soccer the United States would be the best option. If I would have stayed in England, I would have had to stop playing soccer and focus solely on my academics, which is not what I wanted to do. After United States coaches viewed my soccer bios I had nine different universities to choose from. Bellarmine really appealed to me because it is D2 in soccer and it has a prestigious curriculum.
Q: Is America what you expected it to be like?
A: Easy answer, YES, it is pretty stereotypical and a carbon copy of what I thought it would be like. Everyone is very vibrant and very nice—two things you do not always find in England. The layout of the cities are exactly what they seem like on TV shows and the clothing is very predictable. Accents were something that I didn’t give much thought to before coming to the States, but once I arrived I quickly noticed all the different American accents; however, it is still hard for me to pinpoint what state someone is from. I can usually only tell if you are from the south or not from the south.
Q: What social custom do you find the strangest?
A: A lot of the customs are the same but something that surprised me was the whole handshake thing. In England when you meet a good friend you usually give them a hug. Here complex handshake/fist-bumps are common, and if you don’t know them it just turns into an awkward situation. Finally, I had to change my native phrases to match the United States English. In England you say “You all right?” Here that is the equivalent of saying “What’s up?” I did not have a hard time understanding Americans but that is because most of our TV programming is from the States, however, many people could not understand me when I first got here so I have had to learn to conceal my accent.
Q: What is your favorite American food?
A: I enjoy the Mexican cuisine here because there is not much of that in England. I really like Qdoba and Tex-Mex.
Q: Do you plan on staying in Louisville after graduation?
A: I plan on staying here a little bit because I want my Bellarmine education to hold its value and help me land my first job. I knows if I take my degree back home then it will just be viewed as a degree, whereas, if I stay here in Louisville then I know a degree from Bellarmine will actually make a difference.
Q: What frustrates you in America?
A: I enjoy going to coffee shops, but I also hate it at the same time because they never get my name right. Instead of Callum I usually have “Caleb” or “Collin” or even “Column” wrote on the side of my cup. Now I just use a generic American names that I know no one can mess up.