MUSC international student finds community amid crisis

Carla Martinez has always known the importance of community.

Growing up in the small, tight-knit community of Xàtiva – a town of about 30,000 not far from the southeastern coast of Spain – neighbors have always been like family, sharing strong bonds with those living closest to each other. It’s why, when she came to the United States in 2016 for post-secondary education, she was focused on building strong relationships with those closest to her.

But it was on the evening of October 29 when Martinez, a College of Graduate Studies student seeking her Ph.D. in biomedical sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina, felt those warm childhood memories of growing up in Spain suddenly turn to thoughts of terror.

It was about 6 p.m. when Martinez began to see reports on social media of significant flooding Valencia, the country’s third-largest city. It’s about 60 miles north of her hometown. Martinez struggled to connect with her parents and grandparents for some time, as she grew increasingly concerned for her extended family and friends who lived in communities close to the heaviest rains.

“The first thing I tried to do was call my family, but they weren’t responding and that was really scary,” Martinez said. “It was really hard that night because I didn’t know much about what happened to my extended family.”

Building a new home, 4,000 miles away from home

Martinez first came to the U.S. in 2016, arriving in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to attend college and play basketball, a little unsure of what to expect. Four years later, she’d travel to Charleston, enrolling in MUSC to begin her work toward a doctorate.

While the pandemic posed challenges at first, Martinez would quickly start to build a network of close classmates and friends in Charleston, becoming involved in the MUSC International Student Association, also known as ISA. Now featuring more than 60 members, the association includes students who hail from many different countries around the world, including Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, India and more.

“That first year, it was difficult to make friends because of it being the COVID era, but still with ISA, they put together some virtual events and did a welcome lunch, so I was able to learn a lot about them,” she said. “In the years since, we’ve tried to make events where people have time to mingle and interact with each other. It’s always very cool when you meet someone from your country and can speak in that language.”

In this close community of international students, there is a strong sense of connection. For Martinez, these bonds would become even more important in the hours and days following the Valencia floods.

The fallout of the October floods

Martinez eventually was able to get her parents on the phone to confirm the flooding hadn’t quite reached their home in Xàtiva, and while other extended family members’ homes were damaged, nobody was seriously hurt. But the same could not be said for many of their neighbors and beyond.

More than 200 people died due to the floodwaters, according to reports, as single day rain totals eclipsed those usually seen over the course of the entire year in the region. Martinez said the effects of the natural disaster were compounded by the slowness with which the local government reacted to the situation. Emergency alerts weren’t sent to phones until after the flooding started.

“On top of the disaster and how difficult it has been to deal with the consequences – both life-wise and material-wise – there’s also been considerable disappointment and anger directed at the government because of the negligence in their response. The flooding started happening in the late afternoon, around 5 or 6 p.m.; the alarm wasn’t sent until 8 p.m.,” she said. “Everyone psychologically is really affected because of the nature of the situation. While it’s good in the sense that the losses for my family were only material, my cousins and uncles have lost neighbors. Overall, it’s been devastating.”

Clinging to your community in times of need

Being in Charleston while her home country faced such devastation left Martinez feeling helpless.

“I was really scared for my friends and family, not knowing if they were OK. It was hard to focus on anything else when your mind is with your loved ones,” she says. Fortunately, her friends from ISA, as well as her colleagues in the Ph.D. program, were quick to offer support. “They reached out right away to check in on me,” she said.

“It’s hard to concentrate on studies or daily tasks when you're worried about loved ones. You can’t really disassociate from that,” she said. “It’s really hard to feel like you have a purpose here when you worry so much about your family, so it’s helpful having support here.”

Martinez also found solace in talking with a counselor at MUSC’s Counseling and Psychological Services, or CAPS, a resource she continues to use for emotional support and encourages other students to try.

“I go to CAPS once a month. Lucky for me I already had scheduled an appointment that week, so it was really helpful to have a session and express my feelings in a safe space,” she said.