Name: 搖滾、粉筆、松鴉！在坎薩斯大學與 Amanda Ostreko 和 Astha Thapa 的學生生活體驗！ (Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk: Student Life at the University of Kansas with Amanda Ostreko and Astha Thapa)
Uploaded: 2026-01-16T17:50:31.000Z
Duration: 20 min 37 s

Welcome back to another episode of Breaking Boundaries, the world's premier podcast for international students.

歡迎回到 Breaking Boundaries 的最新一集，這是全球首屈一指的國際學生 podcast。

I am joined today by two esteemed guests, Amanda Ostricho, the assistant vice provost and director of graduate program enrollment at Kansas University in beautiful Lawrence, Kansas.

今天很高興邀請到兩位貴賓，一位是 Kansas University 的 assistant vice provost 兼 director of graduate program enrollment，也是位在美麗的 Lawrence, Kansas 的 Amanda Ostricho。

Amanda, thank you for hopping on the pod today.

Amanda，謝謝你今天 hopping on the pod。

And we're also joined by Asta Thapa, a senior at the University of Kansas, all the way from the beautiful country of Nepal.

我們也邀請到 Asta Thapa，她是 University of Kansas 的 senior，來自美麗的 Nepal。

You had a long journey from Nepal to America's heartland.

妳從 Nepal 來到 America's heartland，這段 journey 真的很長。

I'm curious to hear what, what were your initial, what was your initial take on Lawrence, Kansas, which is.

我很好奇，妳一開始對 Lawrence, Kansas 的 initial take 是什麼？

Which is located smack dab in the middle of the United States?

那個地方就 smack dab 在 United States 的中間。

Well, my journey is full of beautiful ups and downs.

嗯，我的 journey 充滿了美麗的 ups and downs。

And there were so many choices that I was given and I took.

我有好多 choices 可以選，也真的去做了。

妳知道的，我做了很多 choices。

I was also in the east, in the west Coast.

I've been a different school, so I'm a transfer student.

我換過學校，所以我是轉學生。

It was not my first decision because I was hopping from one school to another school.

這不是我最初的決定，因為我一直在學校之間轉來轉去。

And I think I was struggling a lot with disability, feeling heard, feeling represented, kind of the belongingness piece was lacking.

我覺得我當時在身心障礙方面掙扎很多，覺得不被聽見、不被代表，那種歸屬感是缺乏的。

And for me, when I came to Kansas, I kind of came with a defeated mindset where I was like, you know, I'll just, I'm just here for credit and I won't feel the belongingness.

對我來說，來到 Kansas 時，我帶著一種有點認輸的心態，心想，我只是來拿學分的，不會有歸屬感。

I've been about two to three colleges, so that was my mindset.

我大概去過兩三個大學，那時候我的想法就是這樣。

But the minute I came in Kansas, it was like the right pace for me.

但一踏進 Kansas，就感覺對我來說是剛剛好的步調。

Lawrence was the right place for me because the diversity here is so beautiful.

Lawrence 適合我，因為這裡的多元文化真的很美。

You will see people walking from different backgrounds, different socioeconomic backgrounds, multicultural backgrounds.

你會看到來自不同背景、不同社經地位、不同文化背景的人們走來走去。

This cross cultural melting pot, that's Lawrence for me.

對我來說，這就是一個跨文化的熔爐，這就是 Lawrence。

So I saw people that look like me, people with different aspirations and stories.

所以我看到了跟我一樣的人，還有各式各樣不同抱負和故事的人。

And, you know, I always say this story to so many people in admissions.

我總是會跟招生團隊的許多人分享這個故事。

I work for admissions, for recruitment and all.

When I was walking down the Mass street in Lawrence, I saw a restaurant and it was a taste from home.

當我在 Lawrence 的 Mass street 走著，看到一家餐廳，那味道就像是家鄉味。

我當時就覺得，哇，太驚喜了。

And honestly, it's always been beautiful.

My first perspective about Lawrence is always diversity.

我對 Lawrence 的第一印象總是多元性。

The world exposer, the melting pot where you will see every taste of the world from culture to conversation to educational opportunities.

世界的視野，一個大熔爐，在這裡你可以看到世界各種的風貌，從文化、談話到教育機會。

So that's my first impression about American universities.

這就是我對美國大學的第一印象。

And having been to Lawrence several times, I can testify to this.

而且我去過 Lawrence 好幾次，我可以證明這一點。

The University of Kansas itself is this amazing magnet for all kinds of talented people from around the world.

堪薩斯大學本身就是一個很棒的磁鐵，吸引了來自世界各地的優秀人才。

And it's interesting to hear your take on your impressions of that part of Kansas.

聽到你對堪薩斯那部分的看法，真的很有趣。

Now, Amanda, you have deep experience at KU and working in international education.

Amanda，你在堪薩斯大學以及國際教育領域都有豐富的經驗。

I'm curious to hear your perspective on the support programs available for international students at ku.

我很想聽聽你對堪薩斯大學為國際學生提供的支援計畫有什麼看法。

Yeah, we have a first, I would say a really great international support services office.

對，我們有一個，我會說是一個非常棒的國際支援服務辦公室。

So we often work closely with issuing certainly in graduate admissions.

所以我們經常與 ISS 密切合作，尤其是在研究所招生方面。

And I know any international student works really closely from the time that they are admitted all the way throughout their career here as a student.

我知道任何國際學生都會從他們被錄取開始，一直到他們在這裡的學生生涯結束，都與 ISS 密切合作。

So that's a great resource for all of our international students.

所以這是我們所有國際學生的絕佳資源。

We also have, through that office, a lot of programming that they do that really helps the entire community understand international education.

透過這個辦公室，我們還有很多活動，真的能幫助整個社群瞭解國際教育。

They certainly involve their faculty and staff and their students.

他們當然會讓教職員和學生都參與進來。

But I've attended some of those, those sessions that they've hosted.

不過我參加過一些他們舉辦的活動。

So, like they might host a session, you know, on Peru and they'll have students from Peru come and talk about their experience.

所以，例如他們可能會舉辦一個關於祕魯的講座，然後邀請祕魯的學生來分享他們的經驗。

And so as someone who likes to travel, who's not an international student, but

對於一個喜歡旅行、不是國際學生，

someone who does like travel and, you know, sometimes have an interest at least in learning languages, although I'm not very good at it, you can you, as a staff member or just member of the community, have an opportunity to go to these programming sessions that also very much support students and engage students.

而是喜歡旅行，而且，你知道，至少對學習語言有點興趣（雖然我學得不太好）的人來說，身為教職員或社區的一份子，你就有機會參加這些活動，這些活動也非常支持和鼓勵學生。

And then we also have a number of student organizations, so some that are specific, that really do focus on different cultures, but

然後我們也有不少學生社團，有些是特定的，真的專注於不同的文化，

then also just so many different student organizations that any student can be involved with that's really supportive to the entire student community.

但也有很多不同的學生社團，任何學生都可以參加，對整個學生社群都很有幫助。

And Amanda, my secret shame is that I really only speak English.

Amanda，我不好意思說，我真的只會說英文。

And I suppose there's an irony working for an English exam, but I share that.

我想這對一個英語考試機構來說有點諷刺，但我跟你一樣。

That's why I love working with international students to gain exposure to other cultures via a similar language.

這也是我為什麼喜歡跟國際學生一起工作，透過類似的語言來接觸不同的文化。

You mentioned that you had been at another school or two before you can speak to your experience at KU or elsewhere, but

妳提到妳之前在其他學校唸過一兩年，所以妳可以談談妳在堪大（KU）或其他地方的經驗，但是

Was there anything that surprised you about the American university experience compared to what you were accustomed to back home?

跟妳在國內習慣的相比，有沒有什麼讓妳對美國的大學經驗感到驚訝的地方？

The flexibility in education, definitely.

That's what we drew me to come to make that decision, to fly all across the world and come here to get my education.

這也是吸引我做出這個決定，飛越全世界來到這裡接受教育的原因。

The flexibility in education is so amazing, and that's something I believe everybody undermines.

教育的彈性太棒了，而且我相信這是大家都會低估的一點。

But it's so beautiful because I am majoring in computer science right now.

但這真的很美好，因為我現在主修電腦科學。

But that's not just the only thing that I do because of the flexibility, the options, the choices that you have, the, you know, educational pathways that you can create on your own.

但這不只是因為彈性、選項、選擇，還有你可以自己創造的教育路徑，而我只做這件事。

我認為這種事只在這裡會發生。

And I think that's a blessing because, you know, when I first came in my head, I was like, it's only going to be computer science.

我認為這是很棒的一件事，因為，你知道的，我剛來的時候，我心裡想著，我只會念電腦科學。

I'm going to be putting on my migraine glasses and just coding.

我會戴上我的偏頭痛眼鏡，然後一直寫程式。

But then I sat down with my advisor and I was like, I'm very passionate.

但後來我跟我的指導教授談了，我跟他說，我很有熱情。

And, you know, I'm very much interested in leadership opportunities.

而且，你知道的，我對領導機會非常有興趣。

And we sat down and we created a program where I'm graduating this semester with a major in computer science from School of Engineering, minor in Women Gender Sexuality Studies.

我跟我的指導教授談了，我跟他說，我很有熱情。

I also am graduating with dual certifications program and global awareness program and leadership enhancement, something I truly care about.

And I also have two dual associate's degree in general science and liberal arts and science.

所以，我們坐下來，創造了一個課程，我這個學期就要從工程學院畢業，主修電腦科學，副修女性、性別與性學研究。

我也要畢業了，還有一個全球意識課程和領導力提升的雙認證課程，這是我真心關心的。

而且我還有兩個副學士學位，分別是通識科學和文科與科學。

But I know that if it was not for that decision to come here and explore American universities, I would not have this diversified experience where I am taking my career as an engineer, at the same time caring about the issues across the world, being the feminist that I am.

搖滾、粉筆、松鴉！在坎薩斯大學與 Amanda Ostreko 和 Astha Thapa 的學生生活體驗！ (Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk: Student Life at the University of Kansas with Amanda Ostreko and Astha Thapa)