‘Here, people are very friendly:’ J-1 student workers arrive on Outer Banks for the summer

A cashier at Food Lion in Kill Devil Hills smiles and apologizes that his English isn’t the best.

He declines an interview for that reason, but, eager to help, indicates as a possibility the cashier at the next checkout line, who is also from his home country.

Chahapat Siripanishpong, a 20-year-old from Bangkok, Thailand, said her nickname is Sanya.

“I have come here before with my parents, like traveling when I was young, but this is my first time doing a work and travel program,” she said.

Her family visited Los Angeles and San Francisco when she was a child — but this marks her first time coming to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. She is living and working in Kill Devil Hills from May to mid-August on a J-1 Visa.

In Thailand, she’s studying to become a pharmacist or pharm tech — she hasn’t decided quite yet — but on June 7, she said she was just trying to find a second job for the summer.

Siripanishpong is one of likely over 1,000 students on the Outer Banks this summer on the short-term, nonimmigrant visas.

The students hail from many countries, spanning at least four continents, and play a crucial role bolstering the local workforce for the annual summer tourist season on the Outer Banks, according to local employers.

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Significant numbers

Official numbers are not finalized until the following year, but 1,152 students participated in the U.S. Department of State’s “Summer Work Travel” program on the Outer Banks in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of State’s J-1 Visa website.

The Outer Banks accounted for nearly half of the 2,381 J-1 student participants in North Carolina last year. Of the Outer Banks participants, 835 lived and worked in Dare County, while 317 were in the Corolla area of Currituck County.

Nags Head was Dare County’s town with the most participants, at 299, followed by Kill Devil Hills, with 187, and Kitty Hawk, with 173, according to the website.

“They leave here with a good impression of the U.S., better English, lifelong friendships, and tell everybody what a cool summer they had,” said Jamie Banjak of the all-volunteer Outer Banks International Student Outreach Program (ISOP).

The students arrive based on their university’s semester dates. Employers at Outer Banks restaurant, retail, hotel and grocery stores say the exact numbers depend on embassy situations in participants’ countries and visa denials that can be for a host of reasons, including financial.

Many participants from Jamaica, Colombia and the Dominican Republic arrived in May, and Asian students from Thailand, Taiwan and China “are already showing up,” Banjak said on June 6.

Eastern European countries tend to have later university dates, she said, meaning “peak numbers” of students coincide with the Outer Banks’ busy July 4 holiday. By the end of August, J-1 student numbers “taper down…and then pretty much most of them are going to be gone by the end of September,” as they go back to school, Banjak said.

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Employers’ perspectives

“They’re grounded,” said Karen Overbey, general manager for Awful Arthur’s Oyster Bar and Awful Arthur’s Beach Shop in Kill Devil Hills, which participated in the program last year for the first time.

Overbey said she is impressed with the students’ gratitude and graciousness and is protective of them while they are here.

As the mother of two adult children, Overbey said, “I’m going to treat them like I would hopefully have my children treated.”

Fellow employees have also taken to the students, “and they make sure that, you know, everybody’s got what they need” — be it bread, fruits or vegetables, she said.

This year’s seven J-1 employees range in age from 20 to 39 and come from four countries: Colombia, Jamaica, Croatia and Macedonia.

“Being enrolled full-time in college makes them applicable for the program,” she said.

The Hilton Garden Inn Outer Banks/Kitty Hawk opened in 2007 and began hiring J-1 student employees the following year to meet its seasonal staffing demands: “We get busy really, really fast,” said Jodie O’Sullivan, human resources manager.

“It’s the best part of my job,” O’Sullivan said of working with the student employees. “I’m their Hilton mama. They come to me for everything, and I’m happy to be there for them.”

Over its 17 years with the program, the Hilton’s J-1 numbers have generally trended upward, from 15 students requested to this year’s 28. Students work as housekeepers, dishwashers, line cooks, hosts, expo and servers — and many end up returning the following summer, having been pleased with their experience.

Their typical age range is 19 to 25, but the J-1 Visa is available through around age 50, “so we get the odd older person here and there,” she noted.

“They’re not just coming here to get a paycheck,” O’Sullivan said. “They’re coming here for the full cultural experience. They’re passionate. They want to be here, they want to work, they want to learn, they want to learn all different positions.”

She added, “Their work ethic is definitely unmatched. You can’t really teach that.”

The hotel guarantees students between 35 and 40 hours a week, but they often acquire second jobs for 10 to 20 hours a week while they’re here, she said.

“They pay a considerable amount of money to get here, so they’re all eager to get second jobs,” O’Sullivan said. “They’re definitely nonstop workers.”

When Food Lion first implemented the program — also 17 years ago — its initial program site was a store was on the Outer Banks, according to LaTonya King, Food Lion’s director of diversity, equity and inclusion, organizational development and talent acquisition.

“Food Lion is proud to participate” in the J-1 program, King said in an email response to The Pilot. “Each year, we welcome students from countries across the world and immerse them in Food Lion’s brand, strategy and culture.”

This year, Food Lion is welcoming 555 students from 12 countries, with 370 of those students employed at locations in Currituck and Dare counties, according to King.

In 2023, Food Lion employed 590 students across its locations, she said.

“Students are paid hourly, hired at entry-level and are trained in every department across our stores including Food Lion To Go, Front End, Deli/Bakery and Produce,” King said. “As part of the exchange program, we ensure students learn about local culture. Associates enjoy gathering for potlucks and celebrations that involve sharing food and cultural traditions.”

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Students’ perspectives

University students working here for the summer gushed about being so close to the beach and the kind people they’ve met. For many, the proximity to the Atlantic Ocean helped draw them to choose jobs on the Outer Banks.

“The sea is very beautiful,” said Hui Jung “Nini” Kuo, a 22-year-old from Taiwan who studies mass communication.

She said the ocean is a 15- to 20-minute drive from her home in Taiwan. But here, biking to and from work, she also really enjoys seeing the wildlife, including deer and — for the first time this year — a red fox.

“I think here, people are very friendly,” Kuo said. “I very like it here!”

Kuo returned this summer to again work as a housekeeper at the Hilton in Kitty Hawk. She said she feels her English improved from being here. As a bonus, she has a Taiwanese manager and works with several other Taiwanese students, none of whom she knew before arriving.

Shawn Thomas, 35, from Jamaica, said on June 21 he was enjoying his first time living and working on the Outer Banks. The fact the Hilton was on the oceanfront sealed his choice.

“It looked beautiful on the internet, and then when I actually came here, it was like, even better,” Thomas said.

A former police officer, Thomas said he is now studying psychology and plans to work as a counselor after graduation. He works as “kitchen back-of-the-house” at the hotel restaurant, washing dishes and doing food prep, from May 16 to Sept. 1.

“It’s very quiet,” he opined of the Outer Banks. “The people here are extremely friendly, very nice. I haven’t had any bad experiences so far.”

Thomas lives about an hour away from the ocean in Jamaica. He said while the water there is clearer, he has gone swimming “quite a few times” since he arrived, and was excited to see dolphins in the wild for his first time.

He also was enthusiastic about his recent visit to the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills: “That was awesome. I mean, airplanes, right there, invented!”

Ashley Onfroy, 22, of Jamaica, graduated last August with a degree in business management and is working at the Hilton as a yearlong intern, from this April to next April.

She had done the Summer Work Travel program in the U.S. while in college, working at an amusement park in Texas — “I hated that experience; honestly wouldn’t recommend” — and at a hotel in Maine, which she didn’t like, either.

She chose the Outer Banks because of the beach, and it seemed like somewhere she could enjoy for a year.

She’s shadowing different department leads and hopes the experience will help her launch a career in hotel management.

“I’m just hoping to see what life is like at the Hilton because I have met team members that have been here for years, and it’s so beautiful to know that you could be at one place for so long,” Onfroy said.

She has also enjoyed meeting people, both at work and around town when she’s off work.

“I have met some people that really, in a short space, they became family,” Onfroy said.