International Student Profile: Maria Gumenyuk
By Hannah Huemme // Staff Writer
At 15 years old, most students could not imagine being told by their parents to choose a foreign country in which to spend the next four years of high school, then getting off a plane barely knowing the native language and being handed a uniform and combat boots.
This is exactly what High Point University’s very own international student Maria “Masha” Gumenyuk experienced. Originally from Vladivostok in Eastern Russia, Gumenyuk was given two options for her high school experience: Switzerland or the United States. Until this point, Gumenyuk had competed professionally in gymnastics where she was the captain of her team. This news from her parents came as quite a surprise.
When asked how she decided which country to choose, she said, “I knew for sure it was going to be the United States.”
Knowing her father would be sending her away for an extended period, Gumenyuk knew immediately that the United States was the choice for her. She said, “Switzerland is not a country of immigrants. It was built of people who were originally Swiss people, so even if I ever would become a Swiss citizen, I would never blend into the culture because I would always be foreign to them. I’m different and I will always stay like that. But America, historically, I knew it as a country of immigrants. So that means you can see different types of people.”
Two weeks later, Gumenyuk was on a 23-hour flight to the Florida Air Academy. For all she knew, she would be attending a typical American high school like she had seen in movies. It was not until she was handed her uniform and directed into a dark cramped bedroom that she realized she was enrolled in a military preparatory school.
Despite the circumstances, Gumenyuk quickly began to excel. She became captain of the volleyball and softball team, and she eventually graduated with the rank of Major, the highest rank a female could receive.
When looking at colleges to attend, Gumenyuk knew it had to be HPU. She wanted a small school where she would not be just another number. Gumenyuk noted, “The beautiful campus, it just killed my heart, in a good way. For the first time in my life I saw an ice cream truck.”
Gumenyuk is currently a sophomore at HPU. She proudly holds two jobs as a Barista in the Cottrell Starbucks and the Secretary of the Global Student Association. Gumenyuk advises fellow international students to move out of their comfort zone and to “make American friends” like she has in her time at HPU.