Enriching International Students’ Experiences through the Local Encounter: A Sharing from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS)

To be a top player in internationalisation, universities attempt to provide international students with an overall rich and rewarding experience that kick-starts their careers post-graduation, especially in terms of employability in the post COVID19 pandemic era. However, the international student experience should also serve to remind international students of a positive and memorable time in their lives, filled with a myriad of opportunities for cross-cultural learning. Thus, from the moment they arrive in their host country, universities could help international students to connect meaningfully with local students and also the local community. Using archival study, the authors offer a conceptual discussion on the notion of “local encounter” to demonstrate the exposure international students can gain from taking part in local events designed for them; examples from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) are used as evidence. The research finding shows that there continues to be room for practitioners to rethink how they may enrich their overall international student engagement through the local network, an area that is often underrepresented in international education studies.