The UH program eases the shock of re-entry and cultural identity By Audrey Martinez Ka Leo Staff Writer Soft Return aims to be informal, fun and meaningful. This newly created campus group brings together students and faculty who have traveled and lived abroad and want to share their personal experiences with others who have had similar experiences.
Participants also discuss what they went through when returning to the United States.
The first two meetings of the group, held last semester, dealt with various topics related to these experiences, such as re-entry shock and cultural identity. Discussions take place in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere, and individuals of all nationalities are welcome to join. Soft Return started out a little more than two semesters ago, as Priscilla Faucette and Andreas Heller, two MA students in the English as a Second Language department, developed a research project which dealt with people's re-entry experience into the country after living abroad. I had been thinking of doing something on re-entry culture shock. Priscilla had the same idea and she expressed it to the class.