We Have to Be Different 3/28/25

I do recognize that I am awarded a lot of privileges having just an American passport. There's a lot of things I don't have to worry about that a typical international student would but in day-to-day interactions, I definitely do consider myself an international student. I think we're also in an interesting spot where, say, if you're in California and you see somebody that's not white you probably don't assume that they're an international person, but at MSU, where it's so white, I know a lot of people will see me and assume I'm an international student. I think what I've noticed most, not just for myself, but other international students or people who look like they'd be international, which is a weird concept, is people usually won't approach you but they'll be friendly if you approach them, and kind of, like, be like, "Actually, I speak English," type of thing, or, "Like, actually, I do know what's going on." I think everybody who doesn't speak English as a first language is very self-conscious of how they are perceived when they are speaking English. 

You speak English because it's the only language you speak. I speak English because it's the only language you speak. I'm already being accommodating and giving up expressing myself so much better in my native language to be able to exist in this space that we get to share and then to be treated some type of way is like I just wish people would be nicer about it.  Just because this is everything you've ever known doesn't mean that it’s everything that exists and is “right” in the world. Again, it's what you know, and I'm doing it because it's what you know, not because that's what I know or what the truth is. 

My general impression of the MSU community has kind of been interesting since the election. I know that people who voted for Trump aren't necessarily evil people. I think a lot of it is just, unfortunately, lack of understanding. A lot of voters are just misinformed, but I was really surprised to see the very loud people that expressed their happiness about Trump winning the election. Previously I was under the impression that with MSU mostly being young people, most people would be in the same boat as me. It’s not like, "You versus me," or, "Blue versus red," Democrats versus Republicans things, but I can't ignore that this large amount of people are voting away my rights as a woman, my friends' rights as actual international students who might not be able to stay in the country. I can't ignore that your choices are gonna affect my life.  I think we all had more faith in things playing out the way they should have, if they weren't for just racism, misogyny, so to see, "Oh, one out of every four people I talk to on a daily basis, statistically have beliefs that are just frankly not nice. It's like, “I'm okay with,you being mistreated or just your rights being taken away.” It's not some empty, anonymous, far away people that have these opinions. It's people that you interact with. 

We're all in this together. Everybody's feeling disappointed by the things going on. My best advice is to reach out to people, 'cause you're definitely not  the only one that feels disheartened. There's somebody else who has the same concerns, who has the same emotions, and it's just nice knowing that there's people that surround you that care about the same things as you do. The things that matter to you matter to somebody else. 

Being a student is interesting in that you have the opportunity to do more things in a safe space. It's low stakes compared to if you had to do life because most people's parents are still paying for their living situations. You have a lot of resources. You have a lot of people around you, but at the same time, it's also the opposite where financially you're more constrained. Politically, really, your money speaks a lot louder than you do. Unfortunately, and you can't really do that as a student. 

It's really empowering to see people using their voices and doing things that are hard. Fighting against everything going on politically, it's emotionally hard, because you're fighting against such a big beast. It gives me a lot of hope to see people willing and doing such a good job getting their voices out there when I don't have the bandwidth for it. It makes me think, "Oh, I could  contribute to this, too."

Older generations have so much disapproval. It's the whole, "Oh, you're just being a rebellious Gen Z," or whatever. Nothing's gonna change if we don't upset older generations, 'cause, clearly, they brought us here.

If we want things to be different, we have to be different.