Anna Sellen-Runefjell and Fanny Eineren traveled 4,946 miles from Kullavik, Sweden. Nina Offenberg flew 4,700 miles from Oslo, Norway, and Claudia Wolf came to Mobile from 5,106 miles away in Igls, Austria. All four were willing to travel such great distances because they wanted an opportunity.

"The opportunity for them to play their sport in college usually isn't available in Europe, so that's an attractive thing for them to be able to come over here where they can do both," women's golf coach T.J. Jackson said. "The international kids have thrived in that environment, so it's been a good thing for them and a good thing for us."

"I started at University in Innsbruck in Austria, but I wasn't able to combine both academics and sports," Wolf added. "The federation wouldn't accept that I had to study, and the university wouldn't accept any absences."

Most European universities don't offer athletic scholarships, so those aspiring to be student-athletes must travel thousands of miles.

While some American students can load an entire moving van when they leave for college, the necessary air travel allows international students to bring only a handful of belongings.

"I didn't bring a lot because my sister was here and she knew all the things I would need to get and where I could get them," Wolf said. "My mom came over with me when I first came, so she helped me arrange everything in my apartment. I brought some pictures from home with mountains and snow, but that's really all I could bring."

Most students who move away from home for the first time go through some form of homesickness. Garcia and Golightly can go home almost any weekend, but international players return to their home countries only twice a year.

"I live less than an hour away, but my first week I got really homesick," said Golightly. "It was not pretty for the first week, and talking to Fanny, she has an 18-hour plane ride over here. I don't know how in the world they do it because I wouldn't be able to go to school that far away from home."

Jackson said there are support systems in place to help international student-athletes cope with such a drastic change.

"When I'm recruiting them, whether they come over here for a visit or not, it's emphasized that they're going to have a big support group once they get here," Jackson said. "We've got the academic support, we've got the administrative support, and then it comes down to the coach, and I emphasize that I'll be here for their support as well.

"They also have their teammates, so it's really been a family-type setting once they come over. They also have their professors, and the professors are usually very supportive if they have any kinds of issues with academics. I encourage them to communicate with their professors if they're having any troubles with a class."

Eineren takes advantage of the connections her mother made as a high school foreign exchange student years ago.

"We call them our American families," Eineren said. "One family is in Montgomery, Ala., and I actually got to borrow a car from them. It feels like I have a little bit of family here since I've known them for all of my life, but I've only seen them five or six times."

The support system seems to be working. Jackson's teams have had one of the three highest team grade-point averages in the nation in each of the last four years, including the nation's best team GPA in 2007 and 2008. That track record makes all of the sacrifices easier for international student-athletes.

"It was important because I wanted to play golf and go to school," Eineren said.  "I would've stayed in Sweden if I wanted to only play golf or only go to school, so it was a mix of the golf team and academics. I definitely wanted to get a good education."

Besides homesickness, there are a number of other obstacles international student-athletes have to overcome, not the least of which is the language barrier.

"In the beginning it's very difficult," Offenberg said. "First of all, you move away from home and just moving out is difficult. You have to figure everything out by yourself. You have to learn how to communicate and write in English all the time, but after a while you just get used to it. You just have to grow up quickly."

None of the four international student-athletes learned English as their first language, but each had some instruction before coming South Alabama.

"It was better than I expected it to be," Wolf said. "You get used to it pretty quickly, but it's harder for me to talk than to listen. You're listening all the time, but not talking as much."

"We study English at home from when we're nine years old, so I've done it for a few years," added Sellen-Runefjell. "I originally spoke Swedish, but I wasn't worried about the language barrier when I came here because most music and TV shows back home are in English."

Having four people who are all in the same position doesn't hurt.

"It just helps because we have a lot of the same attitudes toward things," Wolf said. "Anna (Sellen-Runefjell) speaks Swedish, and there are a lot of similar words, so if we don't know the English word we check the German or Swedish word so we'll know what the other one is talking about."

Garcia said she tries her best to help her teammates cope with being away from their families.

"I can only imagine how difficult it is to be so far away from home and in a new country where everything is different," Garcia said. "We had a great bonding trip to my house for Labor Day where we relaxed at the beach and had great food. I just want the girls to feel like they have a place to go and a family they can turn to."

Despite the sacrifices they have to make, each of the international student-athletes says they're happy with their decision.

"It's the best decision I've ever made," Wolf said. "It's a great experience, and even though it's hard, you grow from it."

"I'm so happy I made this decision," added Sellen-Runefjell. "It's the experience of a lifetime, and I would regret this for the rest of my life if I didn't do it. I'm really happy to be here."