HOST INTRO : COVID 19 sent the world on lockdown. Now that we are all acclimated to our new normal after lockdown has been lifted, it’s important to be aware of the struggles people faced during the pandemic. All CUNY schools were closed during the pandemic, students from all walks of life were affected by this. However, F1 students were hit particularly hard. According to U.S citizen and immigration services (USCIS), the F-1 Visa (Academic Student) allows you to enter the United States as a full-time student at an accredited college, university, seminary, conservatory, academic high school, elementary school, or other academic institution or in a language training program. You must be enrolled in a program or course of study that culminates in a degree, diploma, or certificate and your school must be authorized by the U.S. government to accept international students.Amy Marie Bueno speaks to Baruch and BMCC Alumni on their experiences as an F1 student during the pandemic and how the Trump administration directly affected them.
AMBI – city streets in front of baruch, students and traffic can be heard
Track – Here outside Baruch College at 24th and Lexington in Manhattan, students are studying, talking etc. VISUAL DESCRIPTION. At Baruch alone there are x number of international students. One of them is Lylia Saurel, a Baruch alumni class of 2022 with a double bachelors in journalism and intercultural communication. She was born and raised in France and moved to the United States at 18 years old in 2017 in order to pursue her higher education.
ACT: LYLIA- when I first thought about the pandemic, I. Didn’t think much of it just because I felt like it was so far away from us. I felt like you know all of it was happening in China and I felt like it wouldn’t reach all the way to New York for some reason. I was really oblivious.
TRACK – The pandemic came as a true surprise to her as she didnt know what to expect.
ACT: LYLIA – It would be crazy. Cuny would have to shut down, which didn’t happen in so many years and I was just thinking that’s not going to happen. There is no way. And then eventually it did, and that’s when it kind of became way more.
TRACK- A cycle of questions began to swirl in her mind.
ACT: LYLIA – it was a lot of questioning about should I stay in New York? Should I try to go home before the airport closed? What would it entail for me to stay? What would it entail for me to go back because nobody had a clue about what was going on? And everybody had to adjust really quickly.
Track- Her nerves did not hinder her ability to prioritize her safety and status despite her emotions.
ACT:LYLIA – There was a lot going on also with the administration at the time. Which was under Trump, and so it was a lot of stress to deal with the uncertainty of am I safe? What am I risking if I’m going out? I was living alone at the time. So all of that uncertainty mixed with the uncertainty of if I were to leave to feel safe in my country with my family.
Track: Emotional struggles began to be a burden for her as the isolation and stress of the administration began to take its toll
ACT: LYLIA- I would say during the Christmas holidays because that’s something I really like to celebrate with them and that was my first time ever celebrating it by myself, so that’s alot.. At some point it started to feel tiring, especially in those. You know, moments that you want them to be around? People you love. But again, I considered the entire situation and I realized that I couldn’t risk my visa. I couldn’t risk my situation just because of what I wanted. I really wanted to be with them. I really wanted to see them, but part of being a visa student in America is not just about. What do you want? It’s also about what you need to keep your visa. I knew I couldn’t just do what I wanted.
TRACK – Many would say that F1 students experience college much differently than the quote on quote “ normal students” who are citizens and permanent residents or of another status that differs from F1. Altrim Mamuti, a BMCC alumni and current Junior at Columbia University majoring in Biological Sciences agrees with this statement
ACT – ALTRIM: There would be, for example, you know opportunities that are beyond the college like farms and research and grants which are distributed to certain applicants and eligibility wise, F1 students will not be qualified to apply for those. Those funds, and especially when there are. Government related like. NSF for National Science Foundation. I mean, I I think I’m biased. I know more about science thing, but there might be other opportunities, but I know more of the science for research. So in that on behalf of that I can. I can follow and. Speak, you don’t get those funds. To do research and get. Scholarships because you are not. Eligible for that set. Follow such. So that’s when the differences happen.
Track: Lylia agrees and adds to the specific struggles F1 students face.
ACT: LYLIA – when the pandemic hit, I think a lot of it was the uncertainty of. Will we be able to stay? And if we are able to stay, what will it look like for us in terms of immigration status and? There is a rule for F1 student that you need to be a full time student and you cannot take more than one online class per semester. So when all of our classes became online for safety reasons, that made a lot of sense. But we were afraid. That would mean we would have to go back home because. We were not fulfilling our requirements anymore and those requirements changed, so we were able to take all of our classes online.
TRACK – The Trump administration caused a big sense of panic for most F 1 students due to the questioning of the validity of the student visa since the initial requirements of being full time in person couldn’t be met. This could have resulted in over 6,000 students being sent back home according to the CUNY website.
ACT; LYLIA – So we were scared that we would have to leave the country and that was overruled because a lot of different public figures took action into that. I think everyone shoulders and mine and we were just going crazy about this ’cause we had no control over it and it was really scary not to know what was going on. So every day we would check, you know, different immigration website and ask school officials about what is the latest update. So that was really challenging during the pandemic.
ACT;ALTRIM: I would say that it impacted me the most. The reason being is that you know. When you are An international student you are always constantly worrying about your. You know your status because you’re taking a full load credit at your university or paying a lot of money. You are not able to work off campus. So if you don’t get. To work on campus and. Support yourself for minor things. You know you are constantly thinking about the idea of all you know, I’m not as equal to, you know other citizens or residents here.
Track – Altrim elaborated on how the Trump administration felt like a betrayal to all International students
ACT;ALTRIM: But it’s another feeling when the government that issues you that status is feeling like Terminating it because all You know the reasons and actions and phenomena that were Out of control for Any of us, and even for the government, the United States.
TRACK – the impact felt overwhelming for some, for Altrim he felt trapped in a country that promised him freedom
ACT; ALTRIM: I do think that that impacted me a lot because it was an idea of I’m here to get this done and I am stuck between this virus and this system and you are deciding that because they’re not going back in person because I’m just a simple, I would say Law that says you have to be in person full time. Where the whole world Is virtual. I saw that as very I probably won’t find the best word to describe it, but I feel like it was very contradictory to whatever the hell. It tried to. You know, infuse on us.
Track – Thankfully, as we all know now. Many political figures fought for F1 students to stay here as the law was unjust to students who physically could not attend college because no students regardless of status could attend. To finish off I asked Altrim and Lylia to share a message to fellow F1 students.
ACT: LYLIA – would tell them to look at the bigger picture. I would tell them that while it can be really challenging at times and you feel like dropping everything behind and maybe giving up. The end goal. The end result is really worth it and the amount of growth that it brings to one person to do all of that by themselves is really, at least for me. It’s really worth rewarding. So I would say to think about this when it becomes stressful. Or it becomes overwhelming because if we stop at just, you know smaller moments.
ACT; ALTRIM: I would want to hear that. Uhm, you know keep so like networking because again, as I said like I feel like networking. Will also like open. These doors for you that we never imagined there would. Be and so once you’re well connected and well preserved, I feel like you will have an easier transition to whatever position you are to the other positions you want to be
Track : Lylia and Altrim are just two of many F1 students who faced struggles during the pandemic due to the Trump administration. The reality is that every election that comes is another wave of worry for F1 students as they ask themselves if they would have to return back home any day. Just a new rule or law to be placed that can turn their lives upside down. From Baruch College, I am Amy Marie Bueno.