International, domestic business students share cultural traditions

When Kshipra Pitre first came to the United States four years ago, she let her new friends teach her about American holidays and customs.

As a second-year masters of business administration student at the University of Iowa she not only learns about American traditions from her classmates, she also gets to teach them about some of the customs and traditions in her native India.

“I think this is phenomenally helpful,” said Pitre, 30. ”A few weeks ago we celebrated diwali and had the Indian food and decorations. This is just a wonderful experience.”

The program is part of the university's MBA program – during various international holidays students get together and teach each other about their customs.

On Wednesday, some of the American students took their turn sharing Thanksgiving customs.

“ Every year we host three international events,” said Nadia Dwight, director of MBA student services at the university. “Thanksgiving is a part of that; it's a way for our domestic students to educate the foreign students about American traditions.”

On Wednesday the group of almost 70 diners included students and their families as well as members of the staff.

In addition to learning about each other's cultures, the students get a chance to socialize outside of the classroom. The cultural presentations are informative but also fun.

Isaac Hess, 26, is a first-year MBA student from Orem, Utah. As he started to explain the history of Thanksgiving, he first apologized for the content.

“Everything I have is from Wikipedia,” he said. “If Wikipedia is wrong then I'm wrong, so I apologize for that.”

For first-year student Robert Levine, 25, of West Bloomfield, Mich., the events are a chance to get to know other students as well as enjoy the diversity of their class.

“Being able to share this diversity and share about our own customs, it's just fantastic,” he said. “It's a pretty good international experience.”