The University of Iowa Friends Without Borders, which began in 2014, would like to mix things up in the new academic year.

“In the past, we could connect students with each other before they arrived on campus,” said Taivna Mills, the director of the program. “[Students could] connect through social media or email, [or they could be] pen pals.”

During the 2017-18 school year, she said, the program was unable to connect students early, so the students met for the first time at the kickoff event this fall.

Program officials hope to continue early pairing so students can have a chance to connect before the start of the semester.

“[This allows the students to] make friendships, learn from each other, [develop] cultural understanding, and [that leads to a] more integrated campus and diversifies student learning,” Mills said.

The program is free to students and works with a budget, Mills said, and it collaborates with other international programs to plan events for students.

UI sophomore Victoria Minerva, who is originally from Indonesia, said the program could improve by not planning large events on the same nights as that other student organizations do, which causes scheduling conflicts for students.

This year, events will be scheduled ahead of time, allowing students to be aware of them so that more people can attend. Friends Without Borders’ kickoff event will be held 4-7 p.m. Wednesday at College Green Park.

The program offers several group events throughout the semester, including traveling to Wilson’s Orchard, carving pumpkins, and meeting for a Thanksgiving dinner, Mills said.

Yiting “Erin” Hou, a third-year student originally from China and member of Friends Without Borders, said the program has helped her better understand life in the U.S. She hopes that in the future, the program will expand and allow students to communicate with more than just one student, she said.

“Lots of peers just separate [into their pairs],” Hou said. “Other peers might be shy. The program [should allow students] to reach out to everyone instead of pairing you with just one person.”

Originally, the program only accepted and assigned incoming freshmen into pairs, Mills said, which allowed both students to be discover campus for the first time together.

“This year is [going to be] more mixed of new and older [students], not limiting [pairs],” she said.

Mills said the program needs more male students.

“We want to match them by gender, but we have more females signed up than males,” Mills said. “That has been the challenge, to balance gender.”

Overall, the program strives to be more welcoming to all age groups and genders, and it aims to increase in numbers and have more events in the upcoming year.

Minerva said the program helped her adjust to life in the U.S., because it pushed her to reach out and communicate with others.

“I know it’s really scary at first,” she said. “Even if it doesn’t work out, don’t be afraid to try.”