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Much more than a vacation: International students enjoy Baltimore work, life, culture
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BALTIMORE (Map, News) - For Alex Pokhodnya, America is no stranger.
After working sixty hours a week in an Ocean City seafood restaurant last year, the 21-year-old Russian reapplied for Intrax Cultural Exchange program’s USA work and travel opportunity this summer.
The U.S. Department of State’s summer work and travel program allows foreign, post-secondary students to work in America on a J-1 Visa for four months during the summer. After work, the 30-day grace period allows them to travel around the country with the money they earned.
“It is a great experience and I can’t describe how important this is for me,” Pokhodnya said. “I have improved my language, I am earning money, and I can say I was in the United States.”
Intrax, a company that facilitates J-1 Exchange Visitor Visa applications, placed 16,000 Work & Travel participants this summe, 600 in Maryland.
This year, Pokhodnya, a student at University of Economics and Management in Northern Caucasus, came back for a better-paying job at Hard Rock Café in downtown Baltimore, brought some friends and added to his American experience.
“Everything is different here,” he said. “But, I like the government helping the youth to live well. If you like to work, you can earn enough money for good living. In Russia, even with a university degree, finding a job is very hard.”
The same message echoed from Russian neighbor Serbia from where Olga Sanader, 22, came looking for work.
“I came here through this program because I wanted to travel, improve my language and of course to make money,” she said. “This is a great experience and something like this cannot be experienced in my homeland.”
Sanader works as a lifeguard at a pool in Laurel - one of 700 foreign students employed as lifeguards by the regional Sierra Pool Management Company.
“Since euro is so much stronger than the U.S. dollar, we had a decline of Western European students,” said Sierra owner Steve Lavery. “People can’t come here and work because the dollars they earn won’t give them enough euros.”
But, students from Eastern Europe and South America don’t mind even that. For $7.50 to $8 an hour and 50 to 55 hours of work a week, they are more than glad to participate.
“The international students are fantastic,” said Lavery, whose company operates over 350 commercial swimming pools in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. “Every year we are growing and we grow because of the great performance of international students.”
ana.sebescen@baltimoreexaminer.com
