Home Away From Home: Dave Green’s journey to Rider

By Sarah F. Griffin 

ANYONE who has been in the Student Recreation Center this semester may have seen Dave Green with his white hair and signature simple T-shirts, playing pool while making his friends laugh.

Passersby may not realize how far Green traveled to get to Rider until his accent speaks for him. 

Green, 63, is an international journalism student from Australia, who is studying at Rider for the spring semester.

Although he might always seem happy to some, Green said he struggled with homesickness when he first arrived.

“I have a very large support mechanism back home,” Green said with tears in his eyes. “I wouldn’t have that support mechanism [here].”

Green joined the foreign exchange program from the University of Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. 

According to Green, when he sat down on the flight to America, his first thought was how big of a change this journey was going to be. 

To make the transition easier, Green and his wife, Simone, came to America before the semester started. 

“We came over just before Christmas and then we Christmased in Texas,” Green said. 

As the spring semester kicked off, Green and Simone did their best to keep in contact as much as possible. With a 15-hour time difference, Green expressed the challenge of updating each other on their days. 

Green and Simone “FaceTime probably every second day,” he said. 

In an email to The Rider News, Simone said she hopes “Dave learns some amazing things from this experience, not only about himself but is inspired to continue learning and growing his knowledge for when he returns to Australia.”

Simone continued by thanking Rider for helping Green find a home on the other side of the world. 

“I want to thank all Rider University staff and students who have welcomed Dave into the Rider community,” Simone wrote. “With Dave being a mature aged student I was worried that he would 

struggle to fit in, but he has told me so many stories about how welcomed he’s felt.”

Aside from Green’s wife, he mentioned that he misses the family dog, Marcy, as well. 

“I think I miss her more than my wife,” he said chuckling. 

According to Green, he has been married to his wife for 18 years.

After Simone returned home to care for her and Green’s family, Dave continued to travel the United States before classes started.

One of the places Green went was the Outer Banks, North Carolina. Green’s visit to the Outer Banks brought him somewhat of a culture shock. 

“The day I decided to go to the Maritime Museum down near Hatteras, it was closed because it was a Sunday.”

Green said he has become friends with some other students from abroad.

One of Green’s friends and fellow study abroad student Louis Schummer, an international business major, called Green “an awesome person” and that he “likes to spend time with him.”

“I think he has experienced a lot in his life,” Schummer said. “He’s very funny. He’s down to do stuff whenever it’s possible.”

Rodrigo Alves, a senior game development major, said he spends “a lot of time” with Dave. They often have lunch and dinner together at Daly Dining Hall, where they are also joined by other international students. 

“[Dave] is a very nice person who has a lot of experiences and he can pass these to us,” Alves said. 

Dave and the other international students that arrived at Rider for the spring semester were given the time to get to know eachother with a welcome lunch with Rider President Gregory Dell’Omo, a shopping trip to Target to gather school supplies and a trip to New York City. 

With an outgoing personality, Green easily connected with several of the international students he met when he first arrived. 

“Dave is a very funny guy,” Alves added. “It is very hard to find someone like him.”

To document his time in America, Green keeps a log of his days in a personal journal. He explained that he wants to be able to keep the memories he makes at Rider with him for a long time. 

When considering how big of an adjustment moving to America was for him, Green admitted that he is glad he did it. 

Green had advice for people who debated studying abroad: “Just do it … leap at the opportunity to study overseas no matter where it is you go.”

This article is part of the Home Away From Home series by The Rider News to highlight international students from Rider’s Office of International Education.