Name: Giorgi Beradze
Bio: Giorgi Beradze has recently started his first year at Columbia University. Although he has yet to declare a major, he’s considering Financial Economics. Before transferring to the University of Columbia, Giorgi was assigned as a secretary of Finance and Economics Club at BMCC where he often had to research different industries, identify threats, elaborate efficient solutions for the challenges with his team members. From this experience, he gained significant analytical and leadership skills. When he isn’t busy reading about finance and business, he enjoys playing sports, billiards, and poker with his friends.
Platform: My name is Giorgi Beradze and I am running for the position of the GSSC International Students’ Representative. I am in love with this campus and the people who attend it. Since my first day here, I have felt accepted, included and appreciated. This university makes me feel valued and gives me the opportunity to grow as an academic and as a person.
Being an executive member of the Finance and Economics Club at BMCC – which has myriad international students– helped me to build organizational skills and allowed me the opportunity to help and bring together like-minded students, yet students with international backgrounds, something that I will continue to do if elected. Becoming an academic mentor and volunteer tutor has given me the ability to understand how to truly help international students by having an open ear for their problems and the knowledge and experience to assist them. Attending the leadership workshops last year has given me a strong leadership foundation and skills that I will use to assist international students even more effectively.
Becoming a student is a challenge, but becoming an international student is an even more serious one. Transitioning from the Post-Soviet state and, at the same time, European country, I have recognized very specific problems that students are faced with. Even though GS is welcome to international students, there is still room for improvements; consequently, I will work tirelessly with international students and staff on initiatives to enhance the School of General Studies as a more vibrant and welcoming place for all international students, a home away from home. International students play a significant role in the empowerment of GS and GS should make every effort to answer with the same attitude; therefore, if elected, I will find new ways to involve more international students on campus and make the voice of the international student more powerful and useful by satisfying their critical needs.
Some of the additional intentions related to the international students:
What we come abroad for is the change. That’s why, in advance of the new student orientation program, I will develop the information center that will help new and current international students in exploring the differences between the systems – financial, educational, housing, etc. – of their countries and the United States in order to make the assimilation smoother and the transition more convenient.
Even though students can explore CULPA and some international clubs, I will work on establishing the club or group of international student that will only focus on providing to the international students with the information about the professors. This community will teach international students the independent methods of approach or communication manners to make the relationship between professors and international students easier and more natural by eliminating a cultural shock and the inconvenience that comes with it.
In addition, I will concentrate on arranging and sharing international events and affairs in order to give international students the opportunity to enhance communications and overcome and eliminate home-sickness.
Name: Sophie Nielsen 
Bio: Sophie Nielsen, Class of 2019: Born and raised in Denmark, my introduction to life as an international student was unexpected and beyond any expectation. I spent two years at the United World College of Hong Kong; a year on exchange in Brazil; and the past two years in France as part of the Sciences Po Columbia Dual BA. I currently sit on the board of Danish Student Abroad aiding Danes across the globe with the issues and challenges they face as international students. I want to put my experience and enthusiasm forward for YOU.
Platform: Being an international student is a multifaceted experience. While the years spent abroad can be some of the most formative years in the life of an international student, they are also often accompanied by many challenges. Whereas no experience is the same, I believe that some of the more recurrent challenges faced by international students can be tackled through the development of a tight-knit international community and straightforward communication with the administration. I, if elected International Students’ Representative, will do my best to achieve that.
International students are an important part of the GS community. Our great number and our multitude of backgrounds and experiences have the potential to benefit not only us as internationals but also the GS community at large. I wish to form durable ties between the international students and the non-internationals in order to build a strong network within the School of General Studies. This network is essential as it can provide international students with resources they would not otherwise have at hand.
My personal experience as well as my involvement with Danish Students Abroad taught me that the international student experience is far from limited to the years spent at university. The challenges accompanying the transition to the School of General Studies (visa application, financing, transfer credits etc.) as well as the following transition to professional life (work permits, network etc.) can prove as substantial constraints to international students. While some of these barriers are outside my realm of influence as your representative, I firmly believe that proper guidance and support from the GS community and administration can help ameliorate these transitional phases.
If elected as International Students’ Representative, I will work tirelessly to improve the experience of international students at the School of General Studies. I hope to address their concerns and through that not only improve their time at Columbia University but also the transitional periods before and after.