He says the biggest difference between Chiapas and Portales is the weather. "It has been a challenge to understand what season we are in," he said.

He misses the warm weather that characterizes Chiapas and how green it is. He also misses the people in Chiapas, his family and friends.

He was interested in studying at Eastern New Mexico University to experience a part of the U.S. that was close to Mexico and to improve his English.

"I was always afraid of not being linguistically competent in the language, and that people from here would not understand me when communicating with them, but also afraid of being so far away from my family and my life in Mexico," said the international student.

Mr. Corzo is majoring in English Language Teaching. Once he completes his degree he hopes to teach English in his own country. He believes that teaching Spanish is important; he hopes to also teach Spanish in a different country.

He really enjoys all of the events that ENMU puts on for students. He notes that the university attaches great importance to students being involved in campus activities.

"It is something I will never forget; the majority of them (students) are really involved and I feel like everyone here is valued because of who they are," said Mr. Corzo.

The biggest difference he has noticed in living here compared to Mexico has been in education. In Mexico students are not allowed to choose their own time schedule and how many classes to take. There is more freedom here.

He learned skills that he would have not learned if he would not have attended Eastern.

"I learned strategies and methods in education that might not be taught in my country; I will take advantage of these when I become a teacher."

Mr. Corzo has also learned about American culture. He says that some of the differences between the American and Mexican culture are that the concept of family and religion do not seem as important. He finds interesting the way students are so independent.

"I think the independence that students have is something I like. They earn money, getting all the stuff they need, such as a house or a car and they do all this by themselves," said Mr. Corzo. "I think this makes you appreciate how hard it is to get everything you need."

He thinks it is a difference in cultures for some students not to be so close to their parents.

Mr. Corzo has adjusted well to the change and is proud to say he has adjusted to college life.

"I never thought that I would be asked to do so much homework, to write a lot of papers or read thousands of books, but by this time in the semester I know that this is what education is about," said Mr. Corzo.

"Things were different to me in the sense of getting used to this new education. However, I think I have done it and I have achieved some goals so far."