Massiel Wingeier-Rayo '06

My name is Massiel Wingeier-Rayo, and I'm majoring in religious studies and political science. There's also a possibility that I will pursue a concentration in East Asian Studies. I'm an international student, originally from the capital of Manala, and I'm currently planning on attending law school after I graduate from Guilford. I want to work with the U.S. Latino population, especially through immigration law and possibly international adoption. I'm already taking steps towards this goal—my summer internship is with the Union County Court system, translating for immigrants.

There are so many different people at Guilford. Where I come from, you don't see as many different people. Hippies, punk rockers—I wasn't raised with all those. That variety of people and ideas is Guilford's strong point. I think it's beautiful, that we have everybody, and it's really nice. And it's nice, because there are other Latino students here, and I feel like we're really welcome. I feel embraced here.

Overall, I think Guilford is teaching me to be more humble. I come from a missionary family and I've been to some pretty exotic places. I'd gotten used to standing out because of that. I came here, with these experiences that are so unique, but then I find that lots of people have had some really unique and interesting things happen to them in their lives. And a lot of people here have gone to other parts of the world. I've learned to learn from other people and don't get to say "I'm the only one who's had this experience and nobody can relate to me."  Someone usually can.

The most valuable thing I'm learning at Guilford is to except everybody and to cope with other people. I've always been the introvert, I guess. I have my own group of friends and those are the people I'm most similar to. It's nice that at Guilford you talk to other people and they'll talk to you. I'm having these wonderful relationships with people I would never have spoken to before.

I know when I first came, especially because I was an international student, I was really sad. I wanted to leave for the first month or so. I didn't want to give people the chance to get to know me. Being away from home is hard, especially the farther away home is. Even if you're just from another state, I'm sure you get at least a little homesick.

I think that everybody's going to face that, but just don't give up, and be able to accept a new place. You have to be open to new experiences; you can't just go to your room and take three years off and say "I'm not going to talk to anybody."  You have be out there, and be able to face it. It's a different country, a different culture, and if you're here, you should take advantage of it. Even though we're internationals and we love our home countries, we're here for a reason. You have to embrace this county as well, and it's culture, and be able to accept American students and their friendship. We have a lot of richness to pass on but we can learn stuff, too.