Chhayachhay Chhom
ISO cabinet members stand for photo at first meeting as new cabinet members.
Grinnell College’s new International Student Organization’s (ISO) cabinet for the 2025-26 academic year features president Aaryan Lodaya `27, vice-president Mihail Palmov `27, secretary Asfandyar Khan Sherdil `27, treasurer Duc Ngoc Nguyen `26, social coordinators Drilon Qerimi `27 and Meilin Hoshino `27 and publicity coordinators Sophia Torres Da Cruz `27 and Raissa Batra `28.
As they came together for the first time since the election, the new cabinet stressed the importance of ISO as a space of community and for making the unfamiliarity of small-town Iowa feel like home.
“I think ISO can be this wonderful place where you can get together with other people, who feel the exact same way, facing the exact same challenge of being away from home,” said Palmov.
In an ISO event held last December, students were able to write postcards to their families back home. Palmov said events like these helped him deal with the isolation of homesickness.
“You could sit down at a table, start addressing a postcard to your home, to your family, and look to your left and right, and see people writing in completely different languages and scripts, sending postcards home to completely different continents.”
The cabinet addressed the necessity of reaching out to the international student body for recommendations that represent their different cultures, in the songs they wanted played and the food offered.
“We want the community to have a lot more say in how we represent them,” Sherdil said.
“It’s our responsibility to maintain our authenticity, while being open-minded to feedback,” said Cruz.
Qerimi and Batra, both the only representatives from their countries at Grinnell, are called “Rare Birds.” ISO events allowed them a space to integrate with other cultures. “[ISO is] one of the easiest ways you can share your culture with other people, and where people are actually willing to know more about [it],” said Batra.
“I’ve tried to have friends from as many different cultures and engage with as many different identities as I could,” added Qerimi.
Members of the cabinet said one struggle ISO has faced in the past is reaching out to and including more domestic students at their events. “When I’ve asked my American friends to come to ISO events, they say ‘I’m not international, I can’t come,’” said Qerimi.
“ISO events aren’t tailor-made for everyone,” said Palmov. “But they are made with love, and we want everyone to feel welcome.”
Cruz said, in an effort to make ISO more inclusive, that ISO emails could be sent out to all-campus to make them more inclusive.
“Even within the U.S., people come from all over and associate with different cultures,” said Hoshino. “[It’s important] to promote these events as not exclusive to people with an F-1 visa, but to anyone who wants to learn about other cultures.”
Editor’s Note: Aaryan Lodaya is a member of The S&B staff. He was not involved in the writing or editing of this story.