It was the fall of 2011, I had graduated the previous spring from Northwestern College (NWC) in Orange City, IA, and found myself looking for something familiar… something that reminded me of my time in college… something that helped me stay connected to the world outside of the predominantly white world that I had previously lived in as a child. Though NWC was a small college tucked just on the outskirts of a small town in the Midwest the college had made it a point over the years to reach out and make a way for international students to come. Over my 5 years there I met students from all over the world: Czech Republic, Lithuania, Nepal, China, South Korea, Taiwan, India, Japan, DRC, Mauritius, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, and many others. I also had the chance to study under professors who had lived a substantial amount of time in Ecuador, Central Africa, South Africa, Taiwan and other places around the world. As a student at NWC I was also given the opportunity to do a few service projects abroad and later lived with a woman from Taiwan and helped as an English tutor for a few international students on campus. At one point, I was so involved with International Students that I was elected to be on the Core group of students who organized events for the International Student Club on campus.
But now, I was graduated. I had a choice to make. Should I go back to my purely “American” life and exclude all those who look different, have a different culture, and speak English with an accent? Or do I continue to reach out to those who are different than myself and learn to appreciate the vast cultures and differences among the people of the world?
I choose to embrace those who are different. In the Fall of 2011 I joined a local ministry that reaches out to International Students. It was amazing to see people interact with others they would have never normally interacted with in their own country due to culture, socioeconomic status, language barriers, and more but now, in America these vastly different students now had a binding factor: they were all foreigners in America.
It was working with International students at this organization that I learned that the majority of international students will never be invited to an American’s home. Many international students feel isolated and alone. They often find it frustrating that American’s seem so friendly but that this friendliness is often superficial and they leave the situation feeling rejected by the American’s around them.
We, my husband and I, have friends who work with international students at a University in Colorado. In talking with them a few months ago when this corona virus hit, they had stated that the Asian students had other American students blame them for bringing the virus to the USA and lamented that they (the students) hadn’t even been home in over a year and that they (our friends) where the only Americans who would still talk to them. The students were also filled with fear about the virus, not only fearing for their own lives but for their families back home and wondering where they would go if the college campus would close completely. Hearing this absolutely broke my heart.
For those who don’t know. International students are only allowed to work on the College Campus that they are enrolled at. If caught working off campus, they can be deported. Also, international students can pay up to double the tuition fees that American students pay depending on the school (this was the case for my husband who went to a public community college). Since international students can not work off campus, and tuition is a lot higher in the US than in their home country, sending a student to the USA is a major financial burden for their families back home.
Students come for a variety of reasons. I have met students who want to do cancer research or other types of research, those who want to get into international politics, students who are searching for a better life, possibly even a safer life. Students who just want to learn and return home and students who fall in love with the freedoms that they experience here in the USA that are not offered back home. Many just want a chance to live and achieve their dream.
My husband came to initially learn English and return home to be a tour guide or something similar but over time decided to stay and obtain an Associates degree in Applied Science for Wind Technology (his dream job as a teenager). Later, his sister would come and also earn an associates degree in English with the desire to return home and teach English. Since earning her degree she has returned home, while my husband and I have chosen to stay here and raise our family.
This last week or two when I found out that the US government had decided that all International Students who are only able to have online learning this semester due to COVID-19 must return home, I was deeply disturbed. Many will not be able to afford the plane ticket to return and there is no guarantee that they will be able to finish out their education remotely in the future when classes can resume in person.
According to International Educational Exchange the 2018/2019 school year the USA had almost 1.1 million international students who added $44.7 billion to the US economy in 2018. However, I would like to add that International students add more to the USA than just money. The presence of international students allows American students and those that get a chance to interact with them a chance to get a snap shot of what people and cultures are like in other parts of the world. I-Students help bring different perspectives to classroom discussions and can show other people difference approaches to handling conflict, interacting with those around them, gender roles and/or behaviors, cooking, eating, and just living in general.
Receiving I-students warmly and with open arms gives the US a great opportunity to positively impact the nations around us. If every I-student who finished their degree and went back home, left with positive feelings towards the government and Americans in general, it would have a ripple effect for generations to come. Of those students who come here and return home, many will become leaders in their communities and have the power to make change in their nation. Some, not all, are children of diplomats, of government officials, and of business owners. They will have the opportunity to share with those they know what the “real America” is like, not what is portrayed in the movies. There is also a real chance that some of their thinking will be significantly shaped because of being immersed in another culture. I can honestly say that about 4.5 months in Asia significantly altered the lens in which view the world and I believe that experience has made me a better person for it.
Thankfully, the US government has rescinded their decree about International students needing to return home if their classes are all online during this pandemic. I’m glad the Colleges and Universities banded together to fight this ridiculous order and stand up for those who truly have no voice during their stay in the US and the laws that affect them. I believe it was a completely un-American thing to do. The USA is a melting pot of all different cultures and ideas. Embracing diversity, though difficult, is what makes this country so unique. We see it etched across the landscape, from oceans to mountains, deserts to great forests; and we see it on the faces of all those who have come to call the USA home, no matter if their families have lived here for generations or if they are fresh off the boat. Without constant growth, an infusion of fresh ideas from time to time, and a willingness to learn and try new things we grow stale as a nation. We need to be challenged with new ideas; the status quo questioned and occasionally rewritten. Without conflict, there is no growth and without exposure, no real change. In small but vital ways, the presence of International Students in our schools and ideally in our life add value and a deeper meaning to not only our education but to our life in general.
If you are a college student I want to challenge you to reach out to the students from different nations at you school. If you are an American Adult I encourage you to reach out to others who are not originally from here in your community. You might see them at the grocery store, the bank, in your downtown area, the park, or local ethnic food joints. I want to challenge you to not just reach out to them but to actually extend the hand of friendship, learn their story, welcome them into your life and maybe eventually even into your home for a meal. You might be surprised at how much knowing them can add to your life.
The Ruby Blossom 