Bolor Bayarsaikhan is very far from home. After doing a bit of traveling to Bulgaria, she decided to come to Oklahoma State University when a friend shared her positive experience about the university. "I am from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The country right in between Russia and China. After high school I wanted to go somewhere else and try to be a little bit more independent so I started looking for schools and I actually went to Bulgaria for two years. After that I wanted to go somewhere else again when I was there and I knew a person who went to OSU and she recommended OSU since she had such a good time here and I applied and was accepted so I came here."
Growing up mostly in a bank environment, Bolor says even from a very young age she knew she wanted to learn more about finance. She is majoring in international finance with a minor in Accounting. Well I have always liked working with numbers which is why I am an Accounting minor and both of my parents worked for the central bank of Mongolia so I practically grew up in a bank and I have always found that field very fascinating because it is always changing and it is the center you know of what drives everything I think so I've always knew I wanted to be in finance when I was little."
Already in her second year at OSU, Bolor is very involved with the international student organization when she is not busy studying and she says she is enjoying being there. "So far it has been great. I really like it here a lot. The people are extremely nice and this year I'm the vice president of the international student organization and I really like working with ISO just because I get to work with both international students as well as all of the American students and other area clubs as well. I really like that OSU is very efficient like you know there is no confussion about anything I don't have to go asking different people about certain things. I know where everything is," she says. "It is just all very clear just with my experiences with my last university and the way things are in Mongolia I really like that everything has its place and I know where to go."
Having a variety of foods to choose from is new for Bolor. She says that and just being in the United States has helped her to flourish as a person. "It is very different living a long way from your parents who have taken care of you all of your life so I think leaving home I have definitely grown just as a person and caring for myself I've become much more independent than what I was back home and much more culturally exposed. The food is definitely different in Mongolia. Most of the food is based on beef so I am use to eating a lot of meat products, but it is very good here," she says. "There are so many varieties of foods like I haven't been exposed to this many vegetarian dishes ever. Also, the people are extremely nice. I think coming to the states and coming to OSU I think I have learned to work well with people, different kinds of people from all over the world because OSU has a very good mix of international people so I would say that is the biggest experience I guess."
Bolor will continue her studies and will graduate in 2011. After that she says she wants to pursue a master's degree perhaps overseas. "I would like to keep on studying. I would like to pursue my master's degree in Finance and they do offer a Finance master's degree at OSU, but I think I would like to go somewhere else maybe in Eastern Europe after I get my undergraduate degree here," she says. "I think OSU, not just OSU but Oklahoma is a very friendly state. I'm very happy that I came here. I mean I have met many wonderful people and like I said I think it is very important that you take advantage of the fact that you're surrounded by some many different kinds of people and learn from them."
