Seward County Community College prides itself on the diversity of its student body. Many of the students are from places other than Kansas, including different countries. The majority of these international students are athletes, but there are a few that relocate just for a better education.

Many people question how people from other countries found out about SCCC and why they chose to attend the college. For most international student athletes, it is strictly by recruiting and the chance to play the sport they love. These athletes send highlights of their games and matches to the SCCC coaches.

An example of an international student athlete would be Dane Mechali. Mechali is a SCCC sophomore from Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He is majoring in accounting and playing tennis for the Saints.

“The way I got recruited to play here at SCCC was because of my game films. I would post it on YouTube and when I applied I would add the link to my videos for the coaches to watch. Eventually, I got an email from the coach and I got accepted to play tennis here,” Mechali said.

“I chose to come to SCCC because of my brother. My brother has a friend that’s very close to my coach and that helped out alot. Also, the price for SCCC is very good and the tennis program is excellent. Instead of going to a different college, it was better to come here,”  Michali said.

Another international student attending SCCC is Luz Sierra. Sierra is a freshman from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She is majoring in physical education while playing volleyball for SCCC.

“I sent a couple of my highlight videos to my Coach Thais Allen through Facebook and I would talk to her about possibly playing volleyball for her,” Sierra said.

“The reason I chose to come to SCCC is because it was a better opportunity for me to come here and do what I love, because at my country it is hard to do this. I’ve been playing volleyball for about nine years. I love volleyball and I just love the game overall,” said Luz Sierra.