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They scoop ice cream, work drive-through windows, bus tables and groom dogs. Thousands of students from all over the world descend on the Cape Region during the summer to work and live like Americans.
Known for their work ethic, punctuality and near-limitless quest for hours, foreign students are considered a godsend by many local business owners.
They say young people with accented English fill a void left by a dwindling number of interested American youths. Many American young people have school commitments that last until mid-June and that start again in mid-August, while foreign workers arrive here and work for three months straight. Some of the students arrive in May and work until July; others will arrive as late as August and stay until October.
While not every experience is rosy and police have occasionally been called for noisy parties and other complaints, most of the foreign students report they are happy to spend their summer in the Cape Region.
Who are they?
The young people arrive each summer primarily through a student-exchange program. They hold J-visas under the State Department’s exchange visitor program. The visas allow students to spend four months in the United States. The first three months they must work, but they can spend the fourth month traveling.
To qualify, they must be full-time college students, between the ages of 18 and 24.
According to Chris Bentley, spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, many of the students return. “What you will find as you delve into the J program, is that numerous kids will be repeat participants,” he said. “They can participate for three seasons.”
After the three seasons are up, employers often reach out to new students, perhaps other members of the first student’s family. “You will find employers who have sponsored an entire family from say, Ireland,” Bentley said. The students come from the United Kingdom, Central and Eastern Europe and Russia. They are recruited by sponsor organizations such as the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE), which are approved by the State Department to help students and employers connect.
Why are they here?
“This is my chance to see America,” said Olga Aleksandzova, 21, from Russia.
Of the 10 foreign students interviewed, every one said virtually the same thing when asked why they came here. They want to see America and learn more about American culture.
“Each year we survey the participants once they’ve gone home, and one of the first questions we ask them is exactly that - why they chose to come to the United States on a work and travel program,” said Melvin Freita-Harmon, director of communications for CIEE. “The primary reason is to see the United States.”
“We are here to have fun,” said Michaela Hrusovska, from Slovakia. “This trip is for me. I have college for free.”
While the students work a lot of hours and usually work multiple jobs, only one of the 10 students said he is here to save money for college.
“Some people want to make money and buy electronics or travel. I want to earn money and save it,” said Thomas Jakubik, 22, from Slovakia. “My mother has a good job and she makes less in 12 months than what I make here in three months.” Jakubik works about 60 hours a week at Bozie Produce on Route 1 in Dewey Beach.
Employers love them
Jakubik’s manager at Bozie Produce, Stephanie Larson, says foreign students are a terrific addition to the staff.
“They’re hard workers,” she said. “They’re willing to work, they have no schedule conflicts, and they want to work whatever hours they can get.”
American students often have conflicts, such as soccer camp or swim team, which preclude them from working full 40-hour weeks. In addition to other activities, American young people often have school obligations. “Unfortunately, 10 or 15 years ago, most all schools, except Maryland schools, decided it was in their best interests to keep their kids late, like the University of Delaware, which still has exams after Memorial Day, or they bring them back early,” said Chip Hearn, who owns a number of small businesses in Rehoboth Beach, including Udder Delights and Peppers. Hearn hires 12 to 15 foreign students every year.
“They’re saving my business, that’s what they’re doing,” said Catherine Burns, owner of Sandals, a shoe store in First Street Station. She has five foreign students on the payroll. “There is no way I could offer the hours and the services I do without the foreign kids.”
Burns said she had 50 young people apply to work in her store, and only one was an American, but that person was only 15 and was too young for the job.
Employers say the reason they snatch up foreign workers is fairly simple. “That’s who is here, looking for work,” said Gary Caier, assistant general manager of Tanger Outlets, which has 137 stores. “I know that many American kids take a couple weeks off after school lets out, then they look for a job. By the time they’re ready to get a job, it’s too late.”
“The community depends heavily on that workforce,” said Carol Everhart, president of the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce. “There just aren’t as many college students working as before.”
Most foreign students also work more than one job.
Foreign students need a job offer before they can get a visa to come to the United States, and they often try to find a second position after they arrive. Of the 10 students interviewed, only three worked one job; seven worked two or more jobs. Aleksandzova works four jobs: Grotto Pizza, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Kitchen and Banana Republic. “I want to make money,” she said, by way of explanation.
Where do they live?
Like many young people who live at the beach in the summer, foreign students often live with many, many roommates.
Katarzyna Pozmiek, 23, of Poland lives with 12 other foreign students in a house. “But it’s a very big house,” she said.
Aleksandzova lives with 15 people in a five-bedroom house. Where does everyone sleep? “They are very big beds,” she said.
Hrusovska lives in a two-bedroom apartment with seven other students form Slovakia. “With all the parties we go to, not everyone sleeps there,” she said.
The students who were interviewed said they pay either about $1,000 for rent for the summer or they pay $100 a week.
Poziomek and Hrusovka both paid $1,000 for the summer.
Ashley Robbins, a student from Scotland, pays $95 a week for her own room in a duplex. Robbins works for Udder Delights, and her employer provides housing.
Simona Sicoe from Romania and Irena Ganeza from Bulgaria, who both work at Never Never Land Kennels, also live in housing provided by their employer.
Joana Boldor of Romania also lives in employer-supplied housing. Working at Made Ya’ Look salon as an assistant, she lives in the home of the store’s owner, Anne McDonald. “We are very lucky,” Boldor said. “There are four girls and we are sharing three rooms.”
Boldor pays $250 a month for rent.
But housing is major problem for the students. “Ninety-five percent of them come here without housing,” said Paul Rosol, from Poland. Rosol is here on an 18-month internship program as a computer engineer for sad22.com in Rehoboth Beach. This is his third stint working in the U.S.
“Usually, they try to meet some friends here of they go to one of the real estate agencies,” Rosol said. “Sometimes it’s ridiculous. I’ve seen three bedroom apartments with 15 people living there.”
Rosol lives in a four-bedroom apartment with six people.
Getting around
Because of traffic injuries and fatalities, foreign students have made their way into the newspapers and onto the radio waves in the Cape Region.
Since most of the foreign students don’t have the money or the knowledge to buy a car, they ride bicycles to work. Many of those jobs are on busy roads such as Route 1.
Katarzyna Reteruk of Poland died when a car struck her bicycle in late April. Adrian Matei of Romania, was struck by a SUV July 7 and was flown to Christiana Hospital where he spent more than a month before being discharged. Dzmitry Fedarkevich, of Russia was struck by a car July 15 on Route 26. He was flown to Christiana Hospital, where he was released July 29.
While the circumstances of each accident are different, none of the foreign students was wearing a helmet.
The community has responded to this problem, giving out thousands of free helmets, sponsoring memorial bike rides, and even handing out gift certificates to people who are spotted riding with a helmet.
“We gave away 1,000 helmets at our June 20th bike safety fair,” said Kent Hannaman, sales analyst for Ocean Atlantic. “We had about 2,000 left so we continued giving them away to anyone who came in and asked for one. Now, we have about 400 left,” he said.
Hannaman said his company has given cases of helmets to Rehoboth Beach and Lewes libraries, Beebe Medical Center, and any businesses who employ a lot of foreign students.
Ocean Atlantic is working with Sussex Cyclists, Delaware Department of Transportation and the Delaware State Police to get more people wearing bike helmets.
He said the state police and members of Sussex Cyclists have been giving out gift certificates to local businesses to people they see riding with a helmet.
The foreign students are noticing this effort. “Here at McDonalds, they give us free helmets,” Hrusovska, referring to her employer. “The other day, a policeman stopped me and told me I was riding the wrong way. I told him I will not do it again and he let me go,” she said.
Possible abuses
Anytime there are people who are unaware of the rules and others who could profit from this naiveté, there is the potential for abuse.
While most of the students interviewed said they were being well treated, officials are certain that some employers may abuse the system.
“Do people try to take advantage of J foreign exchange students or other temporary workers? Of course they do,” said Chris Bentley, spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. “But I would contend that the people who play by the rules and treat everyone fairly far outnumber those who try to circumvent the rules. The thing that is going to keep the employer in check is the threat of losing his potential labor force in the future.”
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