Doctoral student study group and international student community
My doctoral students have a weekly study group which I initiated years ago and has been going on ever since. This study group is organized/led by the doctoral students and new students are always invited to join. They meet weekly or every other week to give each other support emotionally as well as academically throughout their graduate study years. They study, write, present, and socialize together. Through this study group, all my doctoral students, both former and current ones, are bonded into a community, and they continue their collaboration after they left the program and even when they are in other countries.
As a former international student myself, I also serve as an informal mentor for all the international students in the School of Teaching and Learning. We get together in my house for pot-luck once a month and for holidays, which provides the students a home away from home and a social get-together for them and their families.
