by Raiisha Jefferson, The Whetstone

With Thanksgiving coming up and Christmas right around the corner, Sophomore Bruce Mosley couldn’t be happier to be going home for Thanksgiving break.

“I don’t stay on Thanksgiving break because I’d rather be home with my family,” said Mosley. “However, I’ll be staying on campus during the winter,” said Mosley. “It doesn’t cost me anything because I play baseball.”

The story is different for other students.

“I stayed on campus for Thanksgiving break because the football team had a game,” said sophomore Ben Robinson.

With the addition of athletes staying on campus, there are also international students – those who stay for four years and the exchange students who stay for just one semester.

“We have 40 students that are on an educational visa,” said Kevin Cullen, director of international programs.

Out of the 40 international students, 17 are undergraduate and 23 are graduate. However, of the 17 undergraduate students, 10 of them live in dorms.

“About five or six of the students will stay for the winter break,” Cullen said.

If they decide to stay on campus, the school charges them $500 for the winter semester, said Rebecca Miller, Study Abroad Advisor and International Recruiter.

“We treat them like regular students, so they are charged the same amount,” she said.

Junior Chanchel Zorbelwu felt it was better for her to go back to her home country, Ghana, during the summer instead of Thanksgiving and Christmas break.

“I stay in Maryland [with my uncle] instead of staying on campus for the winter break,” she said. “The tickets for airfare is usually about $2000 dollars or more depending on the time I go to my home country.”

Christmas tree

Christmas tree set up in the College Center