Blog

CSI is not the first school in the US that Smarlson Solis, who prefers to go by the nickname “Stat,” has attended. Coming from the Philippines, he said that the F1 visa process was difficult with them, “I came from a different school and had a horrible experience there. The processing of my F1 visa was hard,” he says. 

The hybrid program at Computer Systems Institute was the perfect fit for Omar Shebahat. He arrived in the US as an F1 student in March and enrolled in CSI’s Business Career Program - Organizational Administration Concentration program. This hybrid program holds classes twice a week. During the quarter, students are required to do in-person classes, called immersions, at one of the six CSI campuses. The program blends the flexibility of asynchronous online coursework, live virtual sessions, and on-campus residencies.  Omar explains a bit how it works, “So we do Zoom meetings and immersion weekends for 3 days,” says Omar. 

Valeria Ramirez Buenrostro came to the US to break into the film industry. With the help of CSI, she’s learning that the business side of entertainment plays an important role in its success. Valeria Ramirez Buenrostro loves everything about movies. Her favorite film is The Wolf of Wall Street. When she isn’t watching movies, she’s writing scripts. Working in the film industry as a director or an actress is her dream. Right now, she’s opted for a life in Chicago instead of Hollywood.

Altyn Amandykova has a master’s degree from her home country. But after coming to the US she realized that she wanted something different. Now she is pursuing what she really enjoys. Nuclear physics and business are very different fields, but Altyn Amadykova has experience in both of them. In fact, she has that very specific science degree from her home country of Kazakhstan. Three years ago, she came to the US to pursue the same degree here, “I did a master’s degree in nuclear physics in my home country. I came to America so that I could work on a master’s degree here, but it was hard because it is all in English,” she says. “One day I realized it was something that I wasn’t sure that was what I wanted to do with my life.”