Alzughaibi Salman is a 19-year-old international student from Saudi Arabia. He is a sophomore at The University of Alabama majoring in electrical engineering in hopes of working for the Mercedes Factory once he graduates. He has been at the University for a year already and said he feels pretty comfortable around campus. He said one of his favorite things about Alabama is how cool the weather is here compared to back home. Hailing from Riyadah, the capital city of Saudi Arabia, where it is typically in the 100s until around 7 p.m., the Alabama heat has nothing on him.

Q: Why did you come to America and choose UA?

A: I came to America because I wanted a better education, and I came to UA because of the Mercedes factory. I want to work there when I’m done with school.

Q: What do you like about 
campus?

A: What do you not like about campus? There’s a lot of students here, and they are all really nice. The thing I don’t like about campus is that since I live near to BB Comer there are a lot of smokers nearby, and cigarettes are left everywhere.

Q: What’s the biggest difference from your home country?

A: The classes here are all taken together and in Saudi Arabia the boys study separate from the girls. I like the fact that the classes are co-ed here.

Q: How do you feel about American food?

A: American food is very good. I eat it almost every day. Sometimes I cook traditional Saudi Arabian food with rice and chicken or lamb but it takes a very long time to prepare, and here it’s like 10 minutes and it’s ready to go. It’s crazy. My 
favorite thing to eat is the tacos.

Q: How do you feel about football?

A: Football? Sorry, but it sucks. It’s so boring. Soccer is my favorite, but you know football. I went to the stadium last year, and I hated myself for it. Really. I left, I actually left. There was the first hour where everyone was crazy and then no more. I was just so bored, and I left. It got less 
exciting as the time went by, you know?