International Students: A Vulnerable Student Population

College-aged students all around the world often dream about schooling in the United States from a very young age. This is no surprise as the country is home to 75% of the best schools in the world (topuniversities.com). There appears, therefore, to be several benefits associated with schooling in the United States. However, there are also a lot of disadvantages most people tend not to think about. Ironically, despite the fact that there are a whole lot of immigrant students in the US, little or nothing is done to ease the transition to the system on their behalf. Some people have chosen to err on the side of believing that change in itself ought to be difficult and almost nothing can be done to ease the pain associated with change, especially when it meets the victim unexpectedly. I beg to differ on this as I believe that everyone deserves every form of assistance they can get when they’re going through an unfamiliar phase. The first and most important problem also happens to be the most painful but yet most common. This is simply the four-syllable word, “Ster-e-o-type”. As harmless and simple as this word might appear, it is as common as the number of people who prefer iPhones to Androids. A stereotype can simply be defined as a widely held but fixed and negative image or idea about a particular thing or group of people. It is not uncommon to hear things such as, “All black guys are violent,” or “People of color are generally crafty and dishonest.” These, even though sometimes unintended to cause harm and might be thought to be harmless statements, could be very destructive to the wellbeing of the people who need inclusion the most. The most common form are those aimed directly at countries or protected classes and are based on what is depicted by the internet and social media. Imagine someone saying all animals are dogs because they all have one or more organs of locomotion. That would make zero sense, right? Exactly. But this is, sadly, what thrives the most in our society. Regardless of our good intentions, we live in a society filled with stereotypes, and we are exposed constantly to these ideas and beliefs even when we don't agree with them. These stereotypes influence the thoughts, beliefs, and feelings we develop about individuals in different social categories and make it very difficult for students coming from a different background to "fit in" and interact with the new society they find themselves. Secondly, the issue of language and communication barriers. One thing some people don’t seem to understand is that there are students coming from countries where English is probably their third or fourth language. Yes! Not first, not second, but third language. For crying out loud, these folks were born and bred in foreign countries and have probably never listened to even a podcast in English. They come to the United States for the first time, and all of a sudden, everyone expects them to have the accent and vocabulary of a fine-tuned Native American speaker. How is this even supposed to be possible? They end up becoming objects of mockery whenever they make grammatical errors or sound different from the way everyone else sounds. This is not even mentioning the fact that they sometimes find it difficult to understand what their lecturers might be saying due to their strong accents. After all, they say communication ought to be mutually understood. Flip the coin and imagine how impossible it would be for this “English Linguists” to take up and learn a new language. Another problem that gets easily overlooked is the issue of food and nutrition. Let’s not even concentrate much attention on the unhealthiness of the American diet. Let’s pay more attention to the drastic effect the sudden change in nutrition has on the body of an individual. In the US, anyone who does not like fried food is literally gonna starve. The most readily available meals are either grass or something as unhealthy as eating 700 cubes of sugar at a go. It is no surprise then that the country leads with the most diabetics in all of the “developed” countries (endocrinenews.org). The saddest part of all of this is that they don’t think there’s anything wrong with their nutrition. Only those who have tasted the better side of food can attest to this. No wonder the popular saying, “A boy who has stayed indoors all time thinks his father’s house is the biggest”. This essay would be absolutely incomplete without mentioning the sickness that comes with financing tuition and other demands. Research once conducted showed that in most cases, for you to find an immigrant student in a country as financially demanding as the United States, the student is either very rich, such that they are extraordinarily capable to afford their tuition and living expenses, or very smart, such that they are able to qualify and sustain scholarships that in most cases cover about 75% of the total fees to be paid. The fact that currency has varying values in several countries of the world is in itself a terrifying nightmare to not only students but even those involved in international business. Take for example people coming from countries with ridiculous dollar exchange rates. As of 2019, the US dollar exchange rate of the country, Seoul, was ranging around 1USD=1,179 KRW (cheapism.com). Do the calculation. This means for every one dollar, the person is losing 1,179 units of his currency. Now, this individual is going to be paying an average of $35,830 per year, which happens to be the mean yearly tuition in the United States (collegeboard.org). When converted to his own form of legal tender, he is going to be paying an average of 42,243,570 KRW every year if he is not on a scholarship. Isn't this outrageous? Honestly, this should make any rationally thinking person question their entire existence... lol. It's also no surprise for us to hear cases of people who become extremely homesick, fatigued, stressed out, and in severe cases, depressed or even suicidal. The thought of being 6,613 miles away from your loved ones, friends, family, and everything you’ve ever worked for or accomplished alone can cause a person to feel uttermost loneliness and even sink into deep thoughts and the fear of the unknown. There was a time someone told me she felt like she was not going to survive because her parents lived in Chicago and she was schooling in Saint Louis which is legit just a five-hour drive. And I’m like, OMG! You’re kidding me right now ai? My family is 27hours, 43 minutes, and 12 seconds away! What am I then supposed to feel like? Another thing we need to pay attention to is the difference between the little things that seem like they don’t matter at all. The differences in the culture, ways of living, systems, customs and even slight things such as how things operate could all combine to build a maze that this individual has to navigate all by himself with little or no assistance at all. Let me give two examples. In my country, staring at someone is considered rude and ill-mannered. Several things could be assumed as the intent behind the stare and such could build a very hostile and insecure environment for the victim. I’ve been in the US for almost a year and I can’t recount the number of times, I’d look up from what I am doing and see a couple of paired eyes staring so deep at me, I’d bet they could see my soul. In conclusion, change in an environment has been known to affect every living thing including the lower organisms and plants. Whatever can be done to ease the transition should be taken with utmost priority. For the purpose of generalization, I shall not be discussing any solutions because basically, once the awareness is propagated, all that needs to be done is propagate it more. Several people have different levels of their skills of adaptation and some people might not even need it at all. It's all a matter of meeting everyone where they’re at. I am very convinced that once this issue is addressed as importantly as it ought to, there would be a very impressive turn out because, in diversity, there is beauty and strength. Shout out to Mr. Pelumi Kevin-Isreal. If you haven't already, subscribe to my blog and leave a like and share this post. See y'all next week and till then, stay safe, stay healthy, and stay home! #International #Articles #StudentLife