Empowered to Create Change: Being an LGBTQ Student

by Jaime Bellemare - Posts (5). Posted Monday, February 28th, 2011 at 10:05 am

I am an LGBTQ student. LGBTQ means lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer. Here at Syracuse University I feel lucky. I have the basic privilege of being open about my sexuality. I spend many hours taking courses about queer sexuality, studying sex and gender theory and really exploring the world of social identities. This is an area of academic interest for me, but it’s so much more. It’s personal. It’s my life.

Recently, I went to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Creating Change conference. To say it was one of the greatest experiences of my life seems cliché, but it is very much true. For four whole days I was allowed to feel like myself, to be myself, knowing that I would not be judged or discriminated against because of my sexual identity. It was also a great opportunity to meet other LGBTQ students from all over the country and talking with them made me realize how privileged I actually am.

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From Nigeria to the US, A Basketball Success Story

by Jessica Stahl - Posts (412). Posted Friday, February 25th, 2011 at 11:51 pm

Saudi Student Arrested on Terrorism Charges: The Visa Impact

by Jessica Stahl - Posts (412). Posted Friday, February 25th, 2011 at 11:51 pm

As VOA reported Thursday, Saudi national Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, who was studying in the Texas, was arrested on a federal charge of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.  He allegedly bought chemicals and equipment necessary to make bombs, and his email records allegedly indicate that he sent himself lists of potential targets and jihadist messages.

Aldawsari was also, according to the FBI’s affidavit, in the country legally on an F-1 student visa issued in 2008. He arrived in the U.S. first for a year-long English language program, and then entered Texas Tech University with a major in chemical engineering. He had recently transferred to nearby South Plains College and was majoring in business.

Aldawsari’s studies were funded through a scholarship with a Saudi-based industrial corporation, which paid his educational and living expenses.

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My Experience Leading a Student Organization

by Chris Wong - Posts (9). Posted Friday, February 25th, 2011 at 1:34 pm

Organization of Asian Studies

Our student organization logo.

At the end of last semester, I was elected president of the Organization of Asian Studies at my university.  It’s a pretty cool deal – the school gives us a lot of support to host fun events, like foreign movie nights, happy hours, and special receptions, and we also sponsor speakers to give special talks on Asia-related topics.

All George Washington University students interested in Asian studies are welcome to join, and we attract a pretty even balance of international students and Americans and graduate students and undergrads.  Two of our five executive board officers are from Asian countries (Taiwan and South Korea), and three of us are graduate students.

Since we’re about five weeks into our spring semester, and we’ve hosted or co-hosted seven events, I thought I’d share some general thoughts on what it’s been like so far.

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A Shifting Identity in Photos: Jihye’s Story

by Guest Post - Posts (30). Posted Thursday, February 24th, 2011 at 2:37 pm

Meet Jihye Choi – journalism student, VOA intern, and photographer extraordinaire.  She has recently come to Washington, D.C. from Bucheon, South Korea and has been sharing her journey with us in photos.  Here are some of her most recent pictures and stories (which she’s written in English AND Korean!):

Hello Everyone! :) It’s really nice to meet all of you. I’m Jihye Choi, who’s interning at Voice of America. I’d like to tell you a short story about what I see in this great city, Washington D.C. Above shows my ‘former’ identity in South Korea before I came here. If you’re interested in the new identity and adventures I will find in this city, please don’t hesitate to follow me! :)

안녕하세요 반갑습니다! 저는 Voice of America에서 인턴을 하고 있는 최 지혜라고 해요. 여기서 저는 제가 보는 워싱턴에 대해 이야기를 해보려고 합니다. 사진은 워싱턴에 오기 전에 제가 가졌던 현금과 학생증이에요. 말하자면 ‘구’ 정체성인셈이죠! 앞으로 제가 워싱턴에서 찾을 또다른 제 모습과 모험, 궁금하시다면 계속 클릭클릭! :)

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Celebrating Love, the American and African Styles

by Senzeni - Posts (12). Posted Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011 at 10:39 am

On Valentine’s Day, every girl yearns for a candle-lit dinner in a fancy restaurant with good company. Sometimes, instead of just waiting and yearning, it is probably a good idea to whip out your purse, and make your dream come true.

This Valentine’s Day, my two girlfriends and I found this to be excellent advice. We dined at Sitar, an Indian restaurant, chatting and laughing, oblivious of the couples around us who were clearly lost in their own small little worlds.   “Celebrating love” – that is what I call it. Valentine’s Day, like any other American holiday gave us another excuse to celebrate life.

As we tucked into the spicy chicken tikka masala, we swapped stories about our romantic endeavors in the United States. All three of us come from African countries and have  parents who understand our academic goals and encourage us to further our education as much as we possibly can, but still uphold African virtues and values and would be delighted to hear that marriage is within sight.

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Do TV Shows Show the Reality of US Life?

by Jessica Stahl - Posts (412). Posted Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011 at 4:34 pm

Pop culture discussionLast week we got into a discussion on Facebook and Twitter about American pop culture, and how accurately TV shows and movies portray life in the U.S.

You all mentioned watching shows that ranged from The Oprah Winfrey Show to Friends to CSI, and had mixed opinions on how true to life they might be.

Lachlan Wittick, who comes from Australia and is currently studying in the U.S. examines the truth of pop culture portrayals of American college parties on his Open Salon blog, asking:

Movies like American Pie and Sorority Boys have made them famous around the world. So what REALLY happens at a typical College party?

What American TV shows and movies are your favorites, and how accurate do you think they are in showing what life in the U.S. is really like?

The Cautionary Tale of Tri-Valley’s ‘Sham University’

by Jessica Stahl - Posts (412). Posted Monday, February 21st, 2011 at 1:29 pm

On January 20, Happy Schools blog reported receiving this email:

I recently joined Trivalley University 1 week back and took a CPT I20. I was on OPT extension before this. I heard the news that there was a raid on Tri Valley University. What should I do now?

This student was one of about 1,500 foreign nationals, almost exclusively from India, who had entered the US as students of Tri-Valley University (TVU) in Pleasanton, California, and who were left without a school (and without a visa) after immigration officials raided the school’s property and shut it down.

Tri-Valley University, and its founder, Susan Su, are accused of running a “sham university” that helped foreign nationals illegally enter the U.S. on student immigration status, and of making millions of dollars in tuition fees.

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Love and Dating for International Students

by Jessica Stahl - Posts (412). Posted Saturday, February 19th, 2011 at 2:00 pm

With love in the air this week thanks to Valentine’s Day, our Facebook fan Abdirahman reminded us that love is universal. Dating, however, is not.  Romantic life in the U.S. isn’t what you’ve seen in TV and movies, but it might still be different from what you’re used to.

For Sadia, her first Valentine’s Day in the U.S. felt very similar to what she was used to from Pakistan:

Since my childhood I used to see, every year on Feb 14, girls and boys in Pakistan get crazy about Valentine ’s Day. They love buying gifts, like stuffed cuddly teddy bears, chocolate, perfumes, small red heart pillows or cushions, balloons and who can forget bouquet of red roses. This Valentine’s Day I saw the same hype here too, everyone is busy in shopping, getting extra deals in shopping malls, websites are announcing valentine day’s promotions on flower bouquet, fruit baskets, chocolates perfumes, dresses, and list is endless.

But Tara noted, on her personal blog, that Valentine’s Day gifts seemed different in America than back in China. Tara’s Taiwanese friend received a greeting card from her American boyfriend, and was disappointed. In Taiwan and China, it’s more typical to give a concrete gift.

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Football and Patriotism: A Super American Day

by Nareg Seferian - Posts (16). Posted Friday, February 18th, 2011 at 3:06 pm

Sunday Feb. 6 was the day of the Super Bowl (the American football championship), perhaps the biggest annual sporting event in the United States. St. John’s College hosts an annual Super Bowl screening, and our main auditorium was packed with students and staff, along with plenty of food and drink, for the event.

Screening Super Bowl 2011 for the students at St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Photo courtesy Bryce Corkins

American football (i.e., not soccer, but the rugby-like sport played in the States) is one of those “very American things,” I have come to discover, and the Super Bowl seems to showcase that American-ness to an immense degree.

First of all, the national anthem. Before most athletic events, The Star-Spangled Banner is sung, and the big, national matches often have some famous entertainer doing the singing (fun fact: the author of the lyrics to the national anthem, Francis Scott Key, was a student at St. John’s College).

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Love and Disappointment Dating American Girls: Jairo’s Story

by Guest Post - Posts (30). Posted Wednesday, February 16th, 2011 at 12:41 pm

Since we’re looking this week at dating as an international student, it seemed a perfect time to share this correspondence I had with Jairo Castillo, who comes from Venezuela and studied in the U.S. during the 1980s.

Jairo sent me an email to tell me about his college years in Kansas and Oklahoma.  He shared a number of difficult experiences, including the long hours he spent in the library studying for the TOEFL, and how he struggled academically after transferring from a community college to a 4-year school.  But Jairo also wrote:

I was 20 and those were my golden years of life.- during that course of time i meet my girlfriend Maria.- a native of Tyler, Minn.- she was studying phisical therapy and I was a soccer player who came down to the hospital due to a leg injury during a scrimage at intramurals. Maria and I dated and lasted for 3 years until she graduated and moved to Denver, Co.

I asked Jairo if he’d be willing to talk more about his dating experiences…and he wasn’t shy at all in sending me this follow-up email about his successes, failures and challenges dating American women during his time in the U.S.

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CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE WON USA GREEN CARD VISA

by Jessica Stahl - Posts (412). Posted Tuesday, February 15th, 2011 at 11:04 am

I just received an email with the very blaring subject line “CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE WON USA GREEN CARD VISA.”  If I was hoping to get a U.S. visa, I would be excited to receive such an email.  However, it’s very obviously a scam and you should not fall for an email like this.

See the full email below…

How do I know it’s a scam?  Plenty of ways:

1) I did not apply for the DV Diversity Visa lottery.  The only way to enter the lottery is to apply through the official channels.  There is no other method of applying and no other method of being selected.

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Question of the Week: Dating as an International Student

by Jessica Stahl - Posts (412). Posted Monday, February 14th, 2011 at 2:50 pm

Ah, Valentine’s Day, a day to celebrate love in all its forms.  As our Facebook fan Abdirahman pointed out, love is universal – whatever country you’re from and whatever country you’re in, love is always the same.

Love around the world

Dating, however, is not.  This week we’ll be looking at what it’s like to date as an international student in the U.S., and particularly what it’s like to date someone from a different culture.

To get you started, International Student-s has a guide to dating for international students, which goes over some of the differences you might encounter.  For example, they warn:

If you are a man and ask a girl out for a date and she agrees, this doesn’t mean she wants to have sex with you. She just wants to go out to a club, restaurant or wherever, have fun and get to know you.

But on the other hand:

If you’re an international student coming from a socially conservative country, you may be surprised to see people freely express their sexuality. In the US, people are free to express their love for one another in public. They call it PDA, or Public Display of Affection.

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After Weeks of Worry, Egyptian Students in US Watch as Mubarak Steps Down

by Jessica Stahl - Posts (412). Posted Friday, February 11th, 2011 at 7:32 pm

Egyptian citizens stand on an Egyptian military tank as they celebrate after President Hosni Mubarak resigned and handed power to the military at Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, February 11, 2011 (Photo: AP)

Egyptian citizens stand on an Egyptian military tank as they celebrate after President Hosni Mubarak resigned and handed power to the military at Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, February 11, 2011 (Photo: AP)

Hosni Mubarak stepped down from Egypt’s presidency today, after 18 days of protests that took over Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

Many Egyptians studying in the U.S. found out about Mubarak’s departure through international media, just like their American classmates. But for the Egyptian students, emotions likely ran much higher. Old Dominion University student Moustafa Aly told WVEC:

The president stepped down. I was like ‘Oh My God’ I can’t believe it. And then like I was looking for sources. And then when the BBC found out and then CNN and then the people were like shouting in the streets and on Twitter and Facebook, I was like screaming.

Over the past few weeks, Egyptian students in the U.S. have followed the historic events through news reports, Facebook updates by friends and family, and phone calls back home. At some points the Egyptian government shut down internet access and limited mobile connectivity, making communication difficult.

VOA intern Ahmed El-Selawy told me earlier in the month that he felt he was missing history and found it hard to believe what was going on in his own country.

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Piece by Piece I Rise with the Times

by Doc Alex - Posts (8). Posted Thursday, February 10th, 2011 at 10:12 am

“If anything is certain, it is that change is certain.”
-Philip Crosby

The Unexpected Gets a Vote

Three years ago I got a brief taste of what my life would become today. It all started with a new year’s resolution: to make all of my work count for something by seeing it through to the finish.

All you need to do is search Flickr to find out that people worldwide hate putting together DIY tables (Creative commons photo by Flickr user Betty B)

All you need to do is search Flickr to find out that people worldwide hate putting together DIY tables (Creative commons photo by Flickr user Betty B)

In February 2008, my friends and I moved into a new apartment in a new neighborhood back in Malaysia (where I did my undergrad). We spent about half of the day moving in furniture and trying to put things in order – a hideous task, to be honest.

By day’s end all the furniture was in place except for one computer table that needed to be assembled. It was 2am, I was exhausted, and I had zero IQ in woodwork.

Any other time I might have decided to put it aside until the morning and then wake up three months later to see it still undone. And I probably wouldn’t be bothered by it either.

But I had a new year’s resolution to execute. So I quickly opened the package before my mind changed.

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