As the number of international students enrolled in North American universities continues to rise it is important that all instructors gain a more complete understanding of some of the issues that students face when they come to university. This article focuses on only one area, how students cope when learning how to write an academic essay, and some of the difficulties they face when confronted with new ways of teaching and learning. These new ways of learning include the language of instruction, the instructor expectations, the time they need to devote to their assignments, the need to become self-sufficient, and how teaching methods differ from what they were used to in their home countries. A short survey was conducted with 46 first-year international students at a college devoted to international students in North America to learn from the students themselves why they did or did not have problems writing their first university level essay. Their comments are interesting to read as it indicates their thought processes or, in some cases, their lack of any thought process that went into writing their essay.