Think about it again

In my newest job at the international school, I am the full-time college counselor. Three weeks in, I have much to figure out. I started meeting with each of the 12th grade students to discuss their plans after graduation. The ideas range from studying business at a nearby university to working on a sheep farm in New Zealand for a year. Earlier this week, I met with a student from Ukraine, who made this comment:

 "I used to want to go to university in the United States, but not any more."
Why not? I ask.
"It's because of the political situation, especially the current presidential election. And because of the gun laws there."

So a kid from a country caught in a tug-of-war between Europe and Russia, a place where thousands have died in two years of war, does not want to study in our country because it's not safe.

At first this sounds absurd. Everybody wants to come to America, right? That's what we usually think. But think about it again. Anybody who's following the Trump vs. Hillary vs. All-the-people-who-don't-know-what-to-do could say that our political situation is volatile. Those volatile people involved can legally carry handguns in public, and they aren't even the crazy ones. Throw in a little anti-immigrant sentiment and sky-high tuition costs, and you can see why a smart 17 year-old might be turned off.

And I admire that decision. There are plenty of 17 year-olds from anywhere who are choosing schools based on where their friends are going, or how good their parties or football teams are.

So if my Ukrainian student is not interested, then I can't argue. And I didn't. Instead we talked about universities in Canada, the UK and Germany. They all have different application standards and deadlines. I have my work cut out for me. Maybe he'd like to work on a sheep farm instead.