Student Stories

Isabela Santos wanted to get an education in the US. She enrolled in school but it was not what she expected. Then she came to CSI and her whole perspective changed.

Covid changed the direction of Patchararada Daechavimolnut’s career. Before she became a student at Computer Systems Institute, Patchararda was a flight attendant. During the pandemic, her work was extremely limited because so many flights were cancelled.  This was a turning point for Patchararada’s career. She was interested in business so she applied to CSI at the Charlestown, Massachusetts campus. “My first program at CSI was in marketing because I was thinking about going back to Thailand to work in business.”

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.”

Most students at Computer Systems International are in their twenties. Lars Apitz has children who are the same age and older than many of his classmates. After serving 37 years in the German Navy, he wanted to try his hand at a civilian career, “In Germany, a second career isn’t much of an option because you make a good living with your retirement benefits,” he says. “I thought, why not do something for myself and invest in my education?”

Certificate programs can be a valuable asset for anyone. They are less expensive but the classes help students get the knowledge they need for a competitive edge in either the workplace or for furthering their education. Sawaiz Zaka is someone who recognized this and is leveraging the Organizational Administration program at Computer Systems Institute to better position himself as a future graduate student.

International students are not only far from home, but they are also dealing with the challenge of studying, getting used to a new culture, and many are learning to master their English skills. Learning a new language is hard enough, but in the US, regional accents are common, people speak at different speeds, and even speech patterns can differ. Those things can prove to be a challenge for International students who are not native English speakers.

Rahmath Khatoon has gone all in on CSI! She is shaping her future by taking her time to  customize her education to her career goals.