Batu Dashnyam could feel the heat from the concrete seeping through his flip-flops on the walk to the store.
It was a relatively normal, hot summer evening — about 5 p.m. — at a quiet grocery store in Ulan Bator, Mongolia for 17-year-old Dashnyam. Dashnyam was put on “good son duty” by holding his mother’s vegetables while shopping for ingredients to make vegetable soup, he said.
Next to the entrance of the store he saw a colorful, laminated 11-by-17 inch poster that would dramatically change the course of his life. The poster advertised a program that would provide Dashnyam an opportunity to travel to the United States to attend school and live with an American family. Dashnyam’s mother jotted down the phone number displayed on the poster, and they continued shopping, having no idea where this would take Dashnyam next.
A strong desire to learn English, an opportunity for adventure and encouragement from his mother inspired Dashnyam to apply for the exchange program, Cultural Homestay International, which allows high school juniors and seniors to travel to another country in order to attend school. The nonprofit program is an educational organization promoting international understanding and goodwill through people-to-people exchanges, according to the program’s website. More than 250,000 students from over 100 countries have participated for over 30 years, according to the website.
After a month, a family located in Lacey, Wash. contacted Dashnyam and said they were interested in hosting him while he attended his senior year of high school in the United States starting fall 2007. Although Dashnyam is not a huge believer in destiny he saw this as the start of his.
Exchange students are chosen through paperwork — which includes background information about family and education — submitted to CHI. Dashnyam’s host mother, Gail Martinolich, chose to host Dashnyam based upon a touching letter his mother wrote about why Dashnyam deserved this opportunity, Martinolich said.
“Our family loves Batu and considers him a member of our family,” she said. “We call him son and he calls me mom. It’s been very rewarding to know him — he also likes my cooking!”
One of the funniest moments she experienced with Dashnyam was when he first watched “Death at a Funeral.” Dashnyam laughed so hard they thought he was going to need resuscitation, Martinolich said.
Dashnyam became close with his host family and now spends Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays with them. His host family also visits him at Western and they go on family outings to places such as Mount Baker.
Dashnyam’s trip to the grocery store in 2007 led him to attend school in the United States and find passion in sociology. He is now a senior at Western majoring in sociology. He helps new and international students as a community adviser for Birnam Wood Apartments. His love for Washington and his host family’s hospitality factored into Dashnyam’s decision to return to the United States even after the exchange program ended.
“I like Washington state [and] how liberal it is,” Dashnyam said. “Everything is so much greener here and the tap water tastes good — that was one of my first impressions. I really loved it.”
Dashnyam also enjoys Washington because of the good people he has met, he said. He considers himself lucky because all the people he meets are genuine, he said.
On Dashnyam’s second day of high school in America, a classmate he met the previous day asked him “What’s up?”, Dashnyam said. Still not fluent in English, Dashnyam thought she actually meant what was above him, so he looked toward the ceiling. Instead of laughing or making fun of Dashnyam, his new friend explained that “what’s up” was an idiom Americans used to convey, “How are you?”, he said. This was the first instance Dashnyam realized people would be welcoming toward him instead of ignoring him or making fun of him, he said.
In summer 2012 Dashnyam overlooked the housing deadline since he had been spending his time with friends and family in Mongolia. When he returned to Washington the Saturday before classes he had no place to live for the 2012-2013 school year.
“[I said to the housing office] ‘Frankly I’m an international student here,” Dashnyam said. “I don’t have a place to live. I might have to camp on the grass outside of Edens.”
The faculty told Dashnyam there was a waitlist for housing but they would try to accommodate him, he said. The next day he received a call that a room opened and was available for him in Birnam Wood, Dashnyam said.
Return to the United States
While Dashnyam was attending school in the United States he missed the Mongolian post-secondary graduation test he would have taken as a senior in spring 2008, he said. Every senior in Mongolia must take the test, which covers fundamental subjects including math, history, physics and literature. Students then receive a score and depending on the results, students can apply for different prestigious universities such as the University of Mongolia and Mongolian University of Science and Technology, Dashnyam said. Because he missed this test when he returned home to Mongolia in August 2008 he began to search for colleges and universities in the United States.
Eventually his host family told him about South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia located near their house, Dashnyam said. His host family offered Dashnyam to stay at their house again even though they weren’t receiving compensation of any sort, he said.
“I decided to come back,” Dashnyam said. “That was probably one of the greatest decisions in my life. From there it just snowballed.”
After returning to the United States in January 2009 and attending SPSCC for two years, Dashnyam began searching for a university to attend to receive a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
Dashnyam knew about Western because his host-family’s daughter attended graduate school there, Dashnyam said. The few times he visited Western with his host-family the weather was always foggy, but despite the fog he still considered Western a potential university, he said.
Dashnyam kept Western in his mind as he searched for other colleges, he said. While browsing the U.S. Embassy website, Dashnyam discovered that Western has the biggest Mongolian studies library in the country and saw that as a sign, he said. In September 2012 Dashnyam began his first year at Western.
Becoming involved in the community
Now in his second year at Western, Dashnyam is one of five community advisers for Birnam Wood. He decided to become a community adviser because his mom always told him that being involved and active in the community in any way is a good thing, he said.
Dashnyam wanted to be a community adviser at Birnam Wood because he lived there his first year at Western. Birnam Wood has the largest international student community at Western, he said.
“When you are in a student leadership position, the things you went through as a student come back [to you] when you are a student leader,” Dashnyam said. “Chances are, a lot of students are going through the same struggles, so you can make those adjustments [for them].”
While attending community college in Olympia, Dashnyam served on the student activities board as an intramural and recreational coordinator, organizing events for students on and off campus. Through his involvement, he saw all of the possibilities a student has to make an impact at their college. This led him to always look for ways to be involved — whether through tutoring, organizing events or being available to talk to, he said.
Once at Western in 2012, Dashnyam looked into the Associated Students and considered running for student government positions until he talked to his Resident Director of Birnam Wood, Stephanie Zee. Zee, who now is an adviser at Appalachian State University in North Carolina, told Dashnyam about Community Council and he became a South Campus Glory representative, attending weekly meetings and organizing events for Birnam Wood, Buchanan Towers and Fairhaven residents. Dashnyam helped organize Birnam Wood’s annual murder mystery show in April 2013, as well as other similar events.
Through community council and inspiration from Zee, Dashnyam learned about the community adviser program at Birnam Wood. In Winter 2012 Dashnyam started the process toward becoming a community adviser for the 2013-2014 school year, and was selected.
Zee became an influence and mentor to Dashnyam. Besides talking with Zee at weekly Community Council meetings, Dashnyam would stop by Zee’s office and talk to her about his journey as an international student and about life in general, Zee said.
“One of Batu’s greatest strengths is his desire to build community,” Zee said. “He is a visionary and sees the big picture in how to make Birnam Wood the best place for the students living there. He wants to know what is going on and if things aren't going well, he wants to be the change to turn the situation into a positive one. He doesn't do complacency; he is constantly striving to improve himself and the world he lives in.”
Dashnyam’s peers see him as caring, hard-working and a team player which makes him a perfect fit as a community adviser, senior Scott Takai said. Dashnyam and Takai met while attending SPSCC and now both attend Western.
“He will go out of his way to do whatever necessary to make accommodations for people,” Takai said.
Finding his passion
While attending SPSCC, Dashnyam discovered his passion for sociology when he joined a club called Building Revolution by Increasing Community Knowledge. The club addresses problems such as inequality, and plays a role in finding a solution, according to BRICK’s website.
Acting passively won’t allow for change, Dashnyam said. This philosophy combined with his involvement in BRICK and a globalization course at SPSCC sparked his interest in studying sociology.
“There are good, progressive-minded people [in the sociology program],” he said. “The professors all seem to be really smart, talented people. I really enjoy it.”
A large aspect of sociology is looking at a broader picture of the world and finding inequalities and ways to fix them, Dashnyam said. It analyzes society’s problems and why they are happening which is why he enjoys the field, he said.
One issue Dashnyam has found passion in was the 1999 World Trade Organization protests in Seattle that his favorite professor David Hyde from SPSCC was involved in. Between the Mexican and American borders there is a space where American companies can build factories and hire Mexican employees and pay them low wages, Dashnyam said. The companies can still label the products as “Made in The United States” and sell them for high prices, he said. He could go on about this topic forever, Dashnyam said.
Although he has enjoyed his time in Washington, he is already counting down the days until he will return home after graduating in spring 2014, Dashnyam said.
Once home in Mongolia in summer 2014 Dashnyam hopes to work on a United Nations Millennium Development project focusing on improving the country’s after-school program, he said. The project aims to provide better theater, athletic and music programs for students to keep students occupied and out of trouble, he said.
Dashnyam is a “big expression kind of guy,” he said. He uses an analogy of a ladder to illustrate the events in his life that have led him to where he is at today.
“You can’t see how high it is or what the next step is,” he said. “Once you take a step, the next step lights up. That’s what happened to me.”
Timeline
August 2007: Began CHI program, moved to United States
August 2008: Returned to Mongolia
January 2009-June 2011: Attended school at SPSCC in Olympia
September 2012: Began school at WesternAny source
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