By LAUREL BEAGER
LBeager@cherryroad.com
Moving to a dorm across the state can be an intimidating, anxious time for college freshmen and their families.
So, imagine packing up and moving thousands of miles away from your hometown and family to a new country.
“The Internationals,” as they call themselves, appear to have taken those feelings in stride with the help of their coach, Shelby Nosan, teammates and other students and athletes.
And now, the anxiety the five Minnesota North College Rainy River volleyball players who arrived in International Falls in August from communities in Italy, Turkey, Netherlands, Serbia and Mexico, are feeling is the same as other student athletes and surround practices, winning this season’s games, studying for tests, doing homework, and catching up on sleep and food.
The Rainy River volleyball team stands, as of Tuesday, at 7-3 overall and 4-1 in the conference.
“We are so happy with where we are now,” Nosan said, noting they face stiff competition this week and the next. “And we’re very eager for what is to come. We’re excited to build off our good start and hope to get better as a team.”
Nosan recruited the five international players, and while unique to volleyball this year, they are not unique among the college’s other teams. The mens basketball and baseball teams have for years featured international students.
With their English skills on par with many people born in the United States, the terminology in volleyball requires some brainstorming to ensure all are talking about the same strategies and techniques.
“It’s been so fun, and added such a unique dynamic, too,” Nosan said. “And we’re adding a little different style of play.”
Ninette Romero, Jalisco, Mexico; Milana Vukov, Subotica, Serbia; Roos Verreck, Sevenum, Netherlands; Anna Alongi, Varese, Italy; and Duru Ildir, Aydin, Turkey, talked with the Rainy Lake Gazette after practice last week while raiding their coach’s office for snacks before taking turns refereeing Bronco seventh grade volleyball games.
Getting comfortable
And while they like the crackers and other snacks they find stashed in Nosan’s office, they said getting used to buying American food, and spending money on the expensive groceries, will take some time.
Romero said she’s tried to make comfort foods that remind her of home, but it’s just not the same.
All five students excelled in volleyball in their schools at home, and plan to move on from Rainy River after two years to play volleyball in larger schools where they will obtain bachelor degrees in business, nutrition, biology and a “still undecided.”
Until then, the players said they are taking in the best that Borderland has to offer.
“I love it,” Romero said of being in International Falls, adding it’s a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the large city she comes from.
Vukov is from the north of Serbia. “It’s cold, in the winter, and it’s kind of similar to here, but there is much to do, we have also a lake there, a college and we play beach volleyball there.”
Verreck is from a small village, which is surrounded by other small villages. “So it’s kind of similar to International Falls but also very different,” she said. “In the Netherlands everything is really close. I don’t have a driver’s license and everywhere we go we go by bike or just walk. It’s a very different culture than here, but I like it here.”
She said she especially is happy living in the dorms where there are other student athletes from outside International Falls.
Other Rainy River teams support the volleyball team, and they all attend one anothers games, which adds to the camaraderie they feel.
Alongi is from a town of about 80,000 people, which offers more activities than the Falls. She has been driving her Moped for years and now has her car license. She said she spent time at the beach and with friends there.
“But I love it here because it’s really peaceful” she said. “The only thing we do here is go to the grocery store and come back. It’s the closest thing we have that we can walk to.”
She said she became emotional when Face timing with Nosan, who gives a walking tour of the campus on calls with potential recruits.
“It was like January, and I got emotional seeing the snow and I was like “I want to go there!” Alongi said.
Romero has spent time in the U.S. on vacations with her family when she was young, and Alongi spent time in Las Vegas as an exchange student. Alongi’s brother is attending school in Oklahoma, so her parents have already experience sending their child overseas to school.
Romero noted her family is looking for winter clothing for her, because she is already concerned about winter.
Ildir said her hometown in Turkey is not large, and is on seaside, so she spent time at the beach with her friends.
They all said they may want to settle in the United States and were grateful their initial experience of the U.S., for most of them, started in Borderland.
They were reluctant to say they probably wouldn’t settle here. “But that doesn’t take away that it’s great to live here right now, Ildir said. “It’s the first time for me I am out of my house for a year, and being so far away, I do wish, though, there were a little bit more closer (to Rainy River) than there is now.”
It’s not just students that feel anxious about leaving home for school, many times parents share a different kind of anxiety.
“My parents feel very proud of me, but it was also hard for them to let me go,” Romero said. “They told I am very brave to do this by myself.”
Vukov said her parents cried at the airport, and are very proud of her.
Verreck. 17, said she is “from a very big volleyball family” and they were proud and happy she wanted to continue in the sport, but a bit anxious over her youth and being so far away for the first time.
Her father came with her to International Falls, and her mother and sister will visit soon to watch their games.
Ildir said she hears from her parents how much they miss her and it’s mutual. “But they always supported me,” she said.
They Facetime with family as often as possible, but said the time differences in their countries make it tricky to connect.
The students will return home for vacations, and joked that their suitcases will be packed with food when they come back to Borderland.
But thinking about it, they feel the loss of their hometown, acknowledging they may never live there again. “That’s crazy,” Alongi said.
The feeling of team spirit connects the players with their teammates. After all, playing volleyball is what brought them all to Rainy River.
“When it’s a game, we are all very good at supporting each other,” Verreck said.
“It’s a really nice relationship,” Romero said of the team. “Our goals are the same, we like the same things.”
And they credit Nosan for “being one of them,” and going beyond the call of duty to make sure they are doing OK.
“It was like love at first sight when I met her,” Alongi said.
Verreck said her mom and dad were involved in the initial virtual meetings with Nosan, and were impressed by her compassion.
They said their accents draw attention from passersby, but that’s OK with them.
Americans seem to be taught to be nice, and are very socially strong, they observed.
“Everybody says, ‘Hello and how are you doing?’ not just ‘Hello’” Verreck said with a smile.
