Columbian International Student and LU Employee Shares His Journey to the U.S.

The International Student Center gave students the opportunity to experience the food and culture of Colombia at its Lunch and Learn event on Oct. 16. 

Students sampled Colombian coffee and tres leches, a sponge cake consisting of three different kinds of milk. 

Attendees able to heard the story of Kike Caycedo. 

Caycedo works as the Operations Assistant in the International Student Center. Hailing from Colombia, he shared his journey to Lynchburg.

Caycedo was born in Cartagena, a city on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. Caycedo likened the friendliness and warmth of people in the city to the southern hospitality in Virginia.

When Caycedo was growing up, his family moved to the capital city of Bogotá. Caycedo, who now lives and works in the U.S., said the biggest cultural difference he has faced happened before he migrated to the states. 

“I’ve always said that I actually experienced a lot more culture shock going from Cartagena to Bogota, than coming from Colombia to the United States,” Caycedo said.

Bogotá was a different environment; he never knew his neighbors in the seven years of living in the capital city. Caycedo did not see this as a negative, however. He understood that the culture was simply different. 

Liberty University’s International Recruitment team visited Caycedo’s school in 2015. He was able to attend an extended CFAW program that allowed him to experience Liberty and also Washington D.C. The trip solidified his decision to come to Liberty, and he began his freshman year in the spring of 2016.

The International Student Center played a key role in helping Caycedo adapt to Liberty, Virginia and American culture.

The center hosted many informational seminars covering topics like ensuring visas are still valid to obtaining health insurance.

Among the major cultural adaptations, Caycedo noted minor differences. Customer service is much more involved in the United States, something which startled him at first. He also said that the difference in the freshness of the food was notable. Whenever he returns to the U.S. from Colombia, he gets sick because his body is adapting to the food and water.

Growing up in church, Caycedo was musically inclined. Though he never formally studied music, Caycedo loves to sing and play the piano and continues to serve on the worship team at his local church. 

Caycedo also loves watching sports. He grew up watching football (soccer), but he has also grown to enjoy American football. 

Caycedo graduated in May of 2019 with a degree in business finance and is working toward a master’s degree in financial planning. 

The recent graduate discussed how he plans to use the degree in his future. 

“I want to do financial planning for non-profit organizations, especially churches,” Caycedo said.  “Financial planning consists of evaluating the churches finances and seeing what the churches want to do and seeing if the numbers will work or not.”

Luke Randle is the Asst. Feature Editor. Follow him on Twitter at @lukerandle02.