NU International students speak up about their Spring Break

The Norwich University campus sat mostly empty, but there were still some students, especially international ones. 

“Honestly, I have not enjoyed this break,” said Rodion Pedyuk, 20, a sophomore cadet CSIA major from Ukraine. “The main problem is that we were moved to a different building, and there was no food provided, so I had to make additional and not-so-comfortable arrangements for my food.” 

Other students also complained about the food options during the break. 

“The biggest issue was getting food,” said Daniel Gribben, 22, a senior civilian architecture major from Mount Holly, New Jersey. “There are options in town, and  I personally had the ability to drive off campus to get food; it was a matter of affordability and accessibility that caused problems.” 

The biggest thing that would benefit the overall experience of all residents would be the availability of food at the nook or an additional trip to Walmart from the school (or better advertising of it because I only heard about it the day before, and I’m an RA. So, I can only assume that residents didn’t have much notice of the trip either. 

Several students had the desire to have a better-planned trip and complained about the journey to Boston provided by the international center. 

“I know the international center provided a trip to Boston, but it was so badly planned that I even didn’t have the desire to sign up,” said a student who wished to stay anonymous. 

“They could make more trips, maybe to Burlington or New York City for a couple of days,” they said. 

“Lots of students have cars, so it is not a problem for them to get off campus, but as an international student, I don’t have such a possibility, and Norwich didn’t provide enough options,” they said. 

It turned out that the number of trips is a severe problem for students. 

“A nice–planned trip would be awesome because I felt stuck here,” said Pedyuk. 

In general, all students who were here during the break had the same problems. Hopefully, Norwich University will change break policies soon.