4MILE (Multicultural and International Leadership Experience), a program uniquely designed for first-year international and domestic multicultural students, goes a long way each year toward acclimating this special cohort to campus.
This year, 100 new international and multicultural students arrived a week before other members of the Class of 2022 in order to participate in team-building exercises, cultural and social workshops, and presentations and activities to jumpstart their success.
4MILE "helped relieve the pressure of being in a new environment, broadened my sphere and helped me meet new people.”
The program's strength is in forging connections to faculty, staff, student mentors, and guiding Bryant's newest students toward resources that will be important for their success, said Kevin Martins, assistant director for the PwC Center for Diversity and Inclusion.
Each new student is paired with a seasoned student mentor like Stephanie Lehrisson '19. She participated in 4MILE as a new student in 2015, and considers 4MILE "an incredible opportunity," one that "helped relieve the pressure of being in a new environment, broadened my sphere and helped me meet new people.”
“4MILE prepared me for Bryant by introducing me to peers who were in a similar situation as I was,” said Jamil Mansour ’22 of Lebanon. “We participated in many activities that helped us improve our relationships by discovering more about each other. I became good friends with many of the 4MILE students as well as the counselors, who gave up so much of their time in order for us to feel accepted into Bryant.”
The five-day program also includes sessions about maintaining visa status, applying for jobs and internships, and planning for careers. This year also offered specialized tracks for the 36 transfer students from Bryant Zhuhai, including graduate school information sessions.
Five percent of the Class of 2022 are international students who represent 23 countries; India, Canada, China, Vietnam and the Dominican Republic send the most students to Bryant.
