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International Students Should Be Allowed to Stay and Take Online Classes

 The author with her Environmental Science class at Seneca Rocks. 3 of the 4 students here were international students.

I debated whether to put this blog on the Certificate website in case it gets flagged as “political”. However, much like the issue of wearing masks and climate change, there are just some things that require action because it is the right thing to do.

The obvious reason for me to be vocal against this new modification from the Student Exchange and Visa Program is that this renewable energy program is 100% online. Grad students holding F1 visas should not have to fear that by taking one of my courses, they will be forced the leave the country at a time when air travel is erratic and health concerns are real.

(There are other very compelling reasons why this new rule is ill conceived. I will not elaborate here, but if you want to learn more, read a petition here and here. And if you are university faculty in the US, read here.)

While NC State will be opening its campus to students this fall, the University had asked its faculty to come up with a continuity plan to accommodate, at the very least, blended learning. Some are forced to switch to 100% online this fall semester if their classes are over a certain number of people. Others have decided to offer the course online for health reasons. Still others have preferred to focus their time this summer to build a 100% online syllabus rather than produce a half-baked semester where no one knows if and when campus will be forced to shutter again.

Now consider this scenario: Graduate students could be taking only 2 classes this semester to count for a full load. What if those 2 classes are only offered online at this time? What if those are the last two classes needed to complete the degree? If a student, who like me, came to the US with very limited funds, it could be out of reach to take a filler class just to meet the face-to-face class requirement and postpone graduation. Similarly, it could be impossible to afford a flight home mid-program, especially if their campus jobs fizzled out along with the lock down. That is, assuming they’re able to find a flight that will take them home and accept someone travelling from America. If you brought along your family, it would certainly be a daunting task.

I remember what it was like to come to America as an international student. I was so excited to meet so many people from different countries and delight in the changing seasons, which I  never experienced growing up in the tropics. But there was also many moments of abject loneliness and anxiety. I was always anxious about money, about saying something culturally inappropriate, about doing something wrong and getting deported. This was 1999, before twin towers were felled and the world became a scarier place.

I cannot image what it’s like to be an international student in America today. It’s bad enough that there’s a virus on the loose, and angry people inexplicably mad at you for being here. And now you have to navigate a new fall program a month before classes start to ensure you don’t get deported.

If you are feeling anxious about the times we live in, just know that your university community is doing everything in its power to support you and keep you safe.

To my students and future students, feel free to reach out to me to talk about anything. Email: Lyra_Rakusin@ncsu.edu; WhatsApp: +1-919-6243061.