D’Enika Torres
By Jeffrey G. Mulcock, ‘03
A Mexican student takes the lead in bringing together international students.
WHEN D’Enika L. Torres, ’05, from Chihuahua, Mexico, stepped onto the BYU campus in the summer of 1999, she experienced culture shock. Classes, combined with adapting to a new social climate, kept her very busy that first semester. She also became a little bit homesick, but Torres found a way to change that. She became involved in the Student Alumni Network and is now copresident of BYU‘s Student Alumni International (SAI) group, where she has worked to turn a potentially discouraging situation into something positive for international students.
Torres’ experience is not unique. While working on an honors thesis about the experience of international students, Maraly S. Ledezma, ’03, from Mexico City, discovered that of 180 international students surveyed, 72.6 percent reported having difficulty adapting to social relationships and 67 percent considered the problem to be a personal deficiency. Ledezma also felt those concerns, she says. “Although I was academically successful, my social and personal lives were missing something when I came to BYU.”
About 6 percent of BYU‘s students come from outside the United States and represent more than 120 countries. With financial backing from the BYU Annual Fund, in 2002 the Alumni Association organized SAI to support international students. Having worked with the Student Alumni Association, Torres spotted an opportunity to make a difference. “I wanted to make an impact here,” she says.
Torres became the president of SAI-Mexico, and she has unified the 150 BYU students from Mexico, says Todd J. Hendricks, ’00, alumni activities program administrator. “D’Enika knows how to implement all the steps to make an event happen, but then she exceeds expectations,” he says. “Her leadership is phenomenal.” She led eight key volunteers who dedicated 1,000 hours last year to organizing activities for the group. More than 400 people attended the first Day of Souls dance, where 275 people signed up to volunteer for upcoming activities. And the program keeps growing.
Engaging students in meaningful activities that will connect them to each other and the university is part of Torres’ vision for SAI. “I see the change in students as soon as they become involved withSAI,” she says. “Their BYU experience improves, and they grow in enthusiasm and leadership.”
Torres is also benefitting from her interaction with SAI. Earlier this year her leadership abilities led to her being awarded a scholarship to attend a professional conference sponsored by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
