International students lose mentor, friend

by: erin tiesman
Staff Writer

Michel Pontarelli has been serving the St. Ambrose community since 1999, helping international students get acquainted with their American life and dedicating her time, heart, and energy to being not only an advisor, but also a friend.

Kaba Kayembe came from the town of Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Coming here, like for many international students, was a very different and intimidating experience.

"Besides helping with visas and other technical needs for global students, Pontarelli acted as a friend," Kayembe said.

"She helped me get the best housing. I wanted somewhere quiet where I could study and she found a place for me," he said.

"Michel understood what was going on. She was important to our community and she really helped us get around when everything was so new. She was a great listener when we needed her and she makes sure you are comfortable and successful," he said. "She’s really done a lot for international students just like me."

Pontarelli departed SAU to work at the Office of International Students and Scholars at the University of Iowa to help advise the 3,000 international students that attend there.

"I’m looking forward to rounding out my professional expertise by learning how to provide quality service to a large population after having done it all at a smaller school," said Pontarelli.

Although she’ll be working at different campus, Pontarelli will remain in the area, commuting in a university van. She welcomes students to call her at home if they need her.

Though her time here at SAU has been valuable, Pontarelli became interested in global work while she was growing up overseas in Europe.

"My dad worked for American Express Europe and I grew up in the countryside in France, the heart of Rome, Italy, and a small town outside London, England," she said.

Pontarelli attended boarding school in England even after her parents returned to the United States, and this gives her the relation to students that feel alone and a bit scared so far away from home.

After graduation from the University of Connecticut, Pontarelli moved to numerous places such as Chicago where she sold computers.

After that, she moved to the Quad Cities, taking up a job with a division of Johnson and Johnson Companies. Soon after she got married, she started a photography studio in Iowa that "became very successful," Pontarelli said.

She soon started the masters classes at SAU but towards the end, decided to work at SAU to help pay for her children’s college education someday. In her downtime between work and her family, Ponterelli enjoys ballroom and country dancing, traveling and studying. Even without her photography studio up and running, she still runs a side company that produces the Mel Foster Real Estate Show on weekend television.

In 2000, Pontarelli was offered the position to take over the international student program and only had two weeks of training with her predecessor.

"Advising international students and scholars is very specialized work and perfect for me," she said. "Over the last five years, my role has matured and expanded exponentially but as a one-person office, I could not have accomplished all that we have without the help of numerous wonderful student workers."

Pontarelli said her helpful students "worked their hearts out" for her and she will miss them very much.

"Together we have taken this office from one that does a minimal amount of immigration work to get a student here from overseas to one that offers a full range of support to international students and faculty from all over the world," said Pontarelli.

Pontarelli’s job required numerous skills, including advising, recruiting and admissions, marketing and financial aid as well as retention, student activities and other human resource functions.

"We have numerous success stories of students that have either remained in the U.S. to support their family in their home country or they have put their degree to work right away," Pontarelli said. "It makes me so proud to have a small part in helping these students succeed."

Pontarelli, however, also credits her success to faculty members at SAU such as Dr. Jamie Loftus, vice president of enrollment and student services.

"Jamie really allowed me the opportunity to grow on this campus," she said.

She also sees her job as one of increasing diversity on the SAU campus.

"If I could convince every American student to spend a semester abroad, I would. Since this is not possible for many of them, we must bring students of other countries to them."

Pontarelli said she will miss the relationships with the students the most.

"Many of them have opened their hearts to me and have honored me with their trust and friendship," she said. "This job at SAU has been a family effort. I’m grateful to my children who have assisted in many of the social activities we have had for the international students, especially my daughter who has washed hundreds and hundreds of dishes for me after having students over for countless meals," Pontarelli said. "I could not have done it without them."

In light of her departure from the SAU campus, Pontarelli wants to leave students with advice.

"If you have never been in a situation where you are the minority, do it. Whether it is attending an event where you are physically and obviously different from everyone else, traveling to a foreign country where you can’t even read signs, sitting on a meeting where everyone else thinks differently than you do—try it. It will take courage but you will learn more about yourself than you ever could hanging out with people just like you."

Pontarelli said this experience will teach tolerance, kindness and considering things in a new way.