When I pass by some of the International students on our campus, I will confess that I don’t generally spend much time thinking about their personal circumstances…what brought them here, what their plans are after attending our institution, what their family situation is in their home country, etc. After reading the article Fulbright Student From Afghanistan Resolves to Apply Skills Back Home in The Chronicle, that has now changed.
This article highlighted an Afghanistan student who attended Duke to earn a master’s degree in Engineering Management. After graduating early with the degree, he has returned to Afghanistan with the intention of working to rebuild the country’s infrastructure and electrical grid. He was only able to attend Duke by receiving the Fulbright Scholarship and after the U.S. State Department reinstated the Fulbright program in 2003 after suspending it after the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union.
In the article, the student recounted his experience applying for the scholarship and almost missing the application deadline because of intermittent internet access (a problem that plagues the country, in addition to several parts of the country not having internet access at all). He asked only to be referred to his first name in the article, and indicates there is some risk to being a U.S. scholarship recipient; fearing that he could be the target of the Taliban or being kidnapped for ransom.
After reading the story, it occurred to me that there is (at least) one significant difference in the reasons behind why students in foreign countries come to the United States for higher education and why U.S. students travel to foreign countries to pursue higher education. Some students from foreign countries come to the U.S. for higher education in order to return to their home country to make a positive difference in the lives of the citizens of their country. Frequently this need for change is in areas such as infrastructure, technology, human rights, etc.
Not once have I heard of a U.S. student traveling abroad to pursue higher education in order to return to the U.S. to make a difference / battle some injustice. In that it struck me how incredibly lucky we are to have the system of higher education that we have. Even with all of the budget cuts, staff shortages, legislative changes that seem to suffocate instead of alleviate, policy changes that shift with the political winds, etc. we still have more opportunity at our fingertips than students in so many other countries. Makes me realize that I should stop my whining (at least for a little bit) and be grateful.
Thanks for this positivity and perspective, Darcy. You make a great point, no matter how hard we are hit by the economy, we still have an incredibly rich and diverse range of institutions. Though I agree I don't hear many students who want to study abroad to battle injustice, I do hear students who want to serve (like through Alt Breaks) abroad to battle injustice. We send students to work with undocumented students, to work with women's issues in Africa, and clean water solutions in South America. I hope we continue to invest in short-term international education. I wonder how different our student's would be if every student was encouraged (and we had the opportunity) to spend a week serving somewhere sometime during their first two years in college. We might see more students who are invested in international education and in creating a career that battles injustice.
ReplyDeleteThanks for shedding light on why students around the world study abroad or attend schools outside of their home country. The experience is not so sunny and exciting for everyone around the world. I remember growing up my dad once told us when he was in college he knew students who were students from Iran who came to America to study engineering, however some of them were found cheating on an exam, expelled and sent back to Iran. This was at the time when Iran was going through many governmental changes, and anti-american politics had become stronger. When these students returned to Iran, they ended up being killed because they were considered too American. How many American students would risk their lives to get a good education?
ReplyDeleteIn 2009-2010, I spent an academic year hosting six Afghan engineering faculty at the University of Colorado Boulder. Each came to the United States with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (www.usaid.gov) with the expectation that he or she would earn a graduate certificate in an appropriate discipline so that he or she could return to Afghanistan with improved teaching skills that would benefit many more students at the University of Kabul and Kabul Polytechnic University. It was an amazing and challenging 9 months for both our scholars and for my because I had to try to strike a balance between providing them with everything that they wanted (and expected) and making them understand that the communist system that made all life decisions for them and ensured that every person was successful was not how the US education system worked.
ReplyDeleteAs was mentioned in this week’s articles in the Chronicle, language barriers meant that these individuals had to work even harder than other graduate students to produce work that was even minimally acceptable at the graduate level. Most of those who came were eager to learn as much as possible, and in fact at times they were more interested in learning information to share with others than they were with their individual academic progress. In the end, only the one female participant earned her graduate certificate, and that was in spite of leaving after the first semester due to health issues. The male participants were less driven, and found a variety of excuses why they could not finish their programs. I was honored to have spent so much time with them, but it was an exhausting experience.
I struggled with the statement, "how incredibly lucky we are to have the higher education system that we have" for a few reasons. Although in this case, when comparing a citizen or a student (either measures the same in my eyes) from a war-torn country such as Afghanistan, this is undoubtedly very true. My response was more like--how incredibly lucky we are to live in a country which allows for free speech, democracy, and fights hard to protect the physical lives of it's citizens. The higher ed aspect wouldn't be the first "privilege" that would spring to my mind.
ReplyDeleteI can't help but recall the multiple blogs in the past stating how corrupt, money-draining, and politically out of control our "system" is as a whole when it comes to comparing higher education in the U.S. to other countries who offer opportunities such as free access, tuition waivers, and other seemingly invaluable elements to providing continuing education to their people. In many countries other than the U.S., the terms "student loans," "remedial education classes," and "extensive debt" aren't used nearly as often, if at all.
Yes, I'm very grateful of my U.S.A. citizenship, and I truly value my education. I do consider myself "lucky" to be where I am in my life in vast amounts. However, I also know of many other citizens of our country that are denied higher education because of our flawed "system," and many others spend their lives trying to repay what they "owe" the system.
We often forget how rich and privilege we are in the States. Many people every year from the States go abroad to help other countries, but to better other countries because they need the support.
ReplyDeleteGoing back to your article, I am curious now as to how many students come to the States do actually return on their own will(could be on scholarship or contract to have to return after getting degree) to their home country?
I agree that the education’s system of the United States is characterized by several choices and options that are available for students which meet with first their wishes and personal inclinations, and secondly with the requirements of the labor market by finding a lot of options for studying in the United States. These options are consistent changes in labor market and also with the new fields that occur within the U.S. and globally.Beside that , the quality of the American Educationwhich cannot be finded in any other country. I'm very happy and lucky that I'm studying here
ReplyDeleteThe comment from this blog that caught my attention was the fact that this Afganistan student received the Fulbright Scholarship and yet, wouldn't give his full name in fear of being a target of the Taliban or the possibility for being kidnapped. This, alone, should make American's thankful for our rights and freedoms!! I also agree that most international students that I have had the pleasure of knowing are coming to schools in the US to be able to take back something positive to their country and their community. I also see how much the language barrier is such a struggle for many of these students. The reading takes much longer and the writing is a struggle. I applaud any international students for not giving up and continuing for what they truly desire! I, too, hope that the American universities can assist in making positive contributions to foreign countries!
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