The ELI Weekly
Scholarship Nominees 
It is very difficult to be nominated for a scholarship. This means the nominees all worked extra hard this semester and achieved the following criteria:
- Full-time C semester student
- Academic Excellence: 4.0 GPA and high level of proficiency in at least three of the four skill areas
- Outstanding Progress: outstanding progress in language skills
- Excellent Attendance: no more than ten hours absences
- Speak English: make every effort to speak English at all times
- Successful Work Strategies: demonstrate personal initiative in and out of the classroom
Congratulations nominees! Good luck to all of you!
CIP Weekday Activities
Sign up for all activities here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C4BA9A823A02-student30
Weekend Event
Sunday April 3rd – Saint Augustine Beach and Town Bus Trip – TICKETS ON SALE!
Want to come see the beautiful beach and town of Saint Augustine, one of the oldest cities in the United States? Tickets for the bus are now on sale. Get them quick before they sell out! Tickets are 20 dollars exact cash and can be bought from Tate in Matherly 211 between 9am and 12:30pm. Please also bring your Gator1 ID.
Please email Tate if you would like to come by your own car or transportation.
US Federal Tax Forms for International Students
Taxes are due on April 18th this year. Taxes are filed for the previous calendar year, which in this case is 2021. If you didn’t earn money in the U.S. in 2021, you won’t owe taxes; however, if you were an international student in a U.S. school in 2021, you must file Form 8843 (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) for you and your dependents whether you worked at a campus job in 2021 or not.
As a UF ELI student you can use a free non-immigrant tax filing program called Sprintax to file tax form 8843. Daryl Bish emailed you how to access Sprintax. Contact him at studyenglish@eli.ufl.edu (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) or make an appointment to talk with in 223 Matherly Hall if you did not receive information about Sprintax. You must access Sprintax through a secure portal, and you must use your Gatorlink information to enter the program.
If you do not use Sprintax, you can print Form 8843 (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab), complete and sign it, and mail it to the government. You can access form 8843 here: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8843.pdf (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab). Fill out the information under Part I and Part III. In 9 and 10, you need to include the information about the academic institution that you attended in 2021. You can find the address and phone number for the ELI at www.eli.ufl.edu (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab). The name of the director of the ELI is Megan Forbes.
Mail your completed form to this address:
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Austin, TX 73301
If you had on campus employment in 2021, you will receive a form reporting your income and tax withholdings called a W-2. Because you earned taxable and reportable income and must submit a federal tax return to file your W-2. You also must file form 8843. Sprintax can help you do both.
The ELI is not permitted to assist any student with any IRS tax form preparation or give tax advice, but if you have questions about the above information, please contact Daryl Bish.
Notes from the Office
New Mask Policy: UF has updated the mask policy on campus. UF no longer expects or strongly encourages wearing masks in buildings on campus. However, UF does “welcome and express support for those who wish to continue to wear them for their safety or the safety of others…” This means you do not have to wear a mask indoors at UF, but you must respect and be polite to anyone who wants to wear a mask. You should never ask another student or teacher to remove their mask if they choose to wear one. It would also be considered impolite to ask someone why they are wearing a mask. UF will continue to watch the COVID situation and will change the policy again, if necessary. UF is also reminding everyone that if you feel sick, please stay home. You should not come to campus if you are sick. If you are ill and need to see a doctor, you should contact Victoria for help. You can find the full UF policy update here: https://coronavirus.ufl.edu/university-updates/-march-23-campus-brief.html
Student Voices: We love to see our students’ writing. Every semester, we take your writing and publish it in Student Voices. Past submissions have included paragraphs, essays, creative stories, recipes, letters, obituaries, poetry, creative stories, class projects, and other interesting works on a variety of topics. I encourage you to submit anything of your work that you wish to see published. It can be from any class or something you have written on your own but ask your teachers for help editing! You can email it to Olga (omoody@ufl.edu) or to your teacher. Please include your name and class on your submission. The deadline for submissions is Friday, April 8th. You can see past semesters of Student Voices for inspiration.
Expiring I-20s and Financial Guarantees:
- If your I-20 is expiring soon, make an appointment with Daryl in MAT 223 to renew your I-20 before it expires.
- For scholarship students, it is time to request your new financial guarantee letter for the Summer semester, if you plan to return. Most of your financial guarantees will expire this May, which means that you will need to submit a new financial guarantee by the tuition deadline of May 18th for the Summer C semester to avoid owing a late fee. If you need an enrollment letter or if you have any questions, please email Jennifer Vann at jvann@eli.ufl.edu.
Photo of the Week
Manners & Culture
Q: What is April Fools’? What do people usually do this day?
A: April 1st is called April Fools’ Day. We play practical jokes on people, and then afterwards, we yell, “April fools” just to let them know they have been pranked. A common joke is to put sugar in someone’s salt shaker. I’m not recommending that you do this; it’s just an example!
Q: Why do some Americans get offended when someone gets scared of their dog?
A: There might be a couple reasons for this. First, Americans often think of their dog as their family member. Would you act scared of someone’s child? Probably not. Also, Americans might not actually be offended. They just want to express the idea that their dog is not dangerous and that you shouldn’t be afraid. If you are afraid of dogs, don’t feel bad about it. You have every right to stay away from them when you are uncomfortable, just don’t do anything to hurt or scare the dog.
Grammar
Q: Why do Americans say, “Which sentence is more clear?” instead of “Which sentence is clearer?”
A: According to the grammar rules we teach you, one syllable words should use -er. We say more clear because it’s easier to say. “Clearer” is difficult because of the two ‘-r’ sounds. Words like “easier” and “bigger” are easy to say. Here are more examples of words that give the double “-r” in comparative form:
- rare – more rare
- sure – more sure
Birthdays! 
There are no birthdays this week.
Notes from the Editor
I would love to see some stories about interesting places in your country! Tell us about a place that we must see if we visit your country. This might be a museum, historical place, religious place, park etc. Send stories and a photo of the place to Maya (mshastri@ufl.edu) and use the subject line ‘ELI Weekly’.