The “International Alumni Panel” event, hosted on Nov. 14 in conference room A and B, was created to provide international students with information regarding how they could succeed in America.

The panel speakers included alumni and international students Vascao Yasenov and Karis Chang.

Vasco Yasenov, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University, was an international student at De Anza from Bulgaria. Within three years, Yasenov was able to transfer to San Diego State which led him to get his doctorate in economics from University of California Berkeley and Davis.

Karis Chang is currently a senate director at Flex College Prep in Cupertino. Prior to being senate director, she was also an international student at De Anza. She is originally from South Korea but immigrated to the United States.

Within two and half years she was able to go to her dream university, University of Southern California. She said her time at De Anza helped her get ready for university life because of how safe the cultural environment was.

Zhenyi Chen, 19, computer science major, said the things she took away from the event were the experiences the speakers had and the helpful tips they gave the audience. Chen herself is an international student from China.