They come for the tea but stay for the people

Deepak Rai came for the tea but stayed for the people.

“Every time I come here, I meet someone new and learn how to speak to different people from different cultures,” says Rai, a senior mechanical engineering major who was born in Nepal but now lives in New York City. “I look forward to this every week.”

And that’s precisely the goal of International Tea Time, a weekly program presented by UB Counseling Services to help students interact and make friends with people from different cultures.

Students play games and meet new people while treating themselves to an assortment of teas and international snacks. The sessions are held from 5-6:30 p.m. at the Intercultural and Diversity Center in the Student Union.

The program began in the summer of 2013, the brainchild of Elena Yakunina and Heweon Seo, staff psychologists at Counseling Services. Both women have international backgrounds — Yakunina is from Bulgaria and Seo is from Korea — so they had an interest in developing a fun and interactive program to help students meet new people.   

“UB is such a big school, and sometimes students don’t get an opportunity to have close interactions,” says Yakunina. “The program bring students together to have a positive experience.”

The sessions start with students playing games like Jenga, charades and UNO as an ice-breaker. They then talk and share their opinions on a variety of topics, among them food and cultural traditions.    

Rai started attending the sessions when a friend invited him to join his freshman year. He has become good friends with Abhishek Kulkarni, a computer science and engineering graduate student from India. Once shy and introverted, Kulkarni says the sessions have helped him gain confidence and become more outgoing and social. He has been attending the meetings for the past two years.  

“This is a safe place where you can discuss anything,” says Kulkarni. “It’s a very comfortable environment because no one judges you. When you walk in, you feel like you’re part of this community.”

Newcomer Elaine Lin, a freshman aerospace engineering major from New York City, walked in after a sign posted outside the Intercultural and Diversity Center caught her attention. She found her first meeting to be fun and interesting.

 “I like the friendly atmosphere because I’m not really good at talking to other people,” says Lin. “It’s interesting to be around diverse people because you get to learn about different cultures and see new perspectives. You get a new experience around diverse people.”

After receiving an email about the program, Rutuja Sawant, an undeclared student from India, felt like stepping out of her comfort zone. She intends to return and attend the meetings each week.  

“The environment is very comfortable and welcoming,” says Sawant. “I’m loving it here. I like to meet new people. Everyone here is friendly and don’t judge you.”  

As more students attend throughout the school year, more new friendships are made.

“We want to provide a community to make students feel happy and at home,” says Yakunina. “We want to let students know that if they need help, we are here.”