One word that seems alien for most of the international students is Networking. Maintaining professional relationships is really crucial for a good carrier. One more thing that’s important is having a good circle of friends. How is it possible to have this? By attending events, games and having a good social life.
Being a Master’s student, academics take a lot of time in your day. In an entire week, it’s not surprising if you spend 12 to 14 hours in the library. The one thing that made me unwind every week and made me ready for the next week is attending some event on Friday evening or Saturday evening. I made it a point to go and meet new people one evening every week. You don’t have to sacrifice the entire day for an evening. My friends and I used to study till evening and go to some event organized by the AGS or other organizations. This will also help us in focusing at the task at hand during the productive hours. What did I gain from this? A lot of memories, stories to tell and people I can count on. I know how to do a small talks, I know how to make a conversation interesting and most importantly I know where all the cool parties happen 😛
One more thing I would suggest is helping someone to organize something. Let it be an event or a game or anything, try to organize one event or help people who are organizing it. This will enhance our organizing and leadership skills. A lot of international students have doubts about visas, working opportunities, switching jobs, starting their own companies, attending events outside the campus gives the opportunity to meet people from different backgrounds. Meet-up is a great app to meet interesting people having similar interests as you.
The key to a great graduate experience lies in the choices you make. Study as much as possible and go out and have a social life.