This participatory qualitative inquiry explored the shifting subjectivities of three women from Saudi Arabia, as they pursued tertiary education in the United States through benefit of the King Abdullah Scholarship Program. Informed by a Vygotskian theoretical framework for understanding the construction of identity (Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, & Cain, 1998), the study examined the lived experiences of these scholars. Data analysis revealed a wide variety of tensions that arose as they struggled to learn enough academic English to pass the TOEFL exam and enter the university. These tensions included loneliness of "living" in the United States and Saudi Arabia, but not truly being in either 100%, financial struggles which resulted from the loss of the scholarship and, finally, acquiring academic English language. Implications for practice and research highlight further examination of support for this population.