Student Union
- By Donal Gannon
Seasonal 'Plague' Hits College Freshman
Sometimes, all the hand sanitizer in the world cannot prevent the inevitable.
College freshmen across the country are being introduced to a whole new world of pathogens and other infections at this time of year.
It starts with just one or two people in a dorm hall, said Dr. David Reitman, medical director of the Student Health Center at American University in Washington. They cough without covering the spray of germs that can reach 30 feet, as measured by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researcher Lydia Bourouiba.
Then comes a sore throat and a general feeling of ickiness that lasts a week or so. It spreads slowly but surely, and soon the whole floor of the dorm is a sick ward. Once again, new students have been struck by the freshman plague.
Brendon Gardner, a freshman at Fordham University in New York, had been warned by older siblings and friends about the cesspool of pathogens he was about to enter, but he still wasn't prepared.
"I figured, eh, wouldn't happen to me. But then it did," said Gardner from his dorm after a week of coughing and a runny nose. "And it was so annoying."
Not a specific pathogen
The freshman plague, Reitman said, is not one particular disease or pathogen, but "refers to viruses that are easily transmissible by people who are living in close quarters in which they easily pass from one person to another."
The plague emerges in freshman dorms because of a perfect storm of factors: a large group of people crammed into a relatively small space, often sharing facilities such as showers, kitchens and bathrooms. This makes it easy for viruses to hop from one victim to the next.
The reason these illnesses appear more commonly in freshman dorms than in upperclassman housing is freshman are exactly that — fresh. They are still learning the ropes of dorm living and have not yet mastered the practices and routines that could keep them healthy.
The best way to avoid catching the plague, Reitman said, is to maintain basic hygiene and healthy habits. Wash your hands often, including your wrists. Use a hand sanitizer, especially before eating. This, as well as avoiding behaviors like sharing drinks or food, can improve one's odds against contracting viruses. And don't smoke. It inflames the respiratory system, he said.
Less obvious ways of dodging the plague are to drink lots of fluids and maintain regular sleep and eating schedules. That's easier said than done for college students.
And there's always the flu vaccine. Although 70 percent of college students in the U.S. say they believe it is important to get a yearly flu shot, only 46 percent say they get vaccinated, according to a National Foundation for Infectious Diseases report in 2017. So, the plague persists.
"I just wanted to stay in bed all day but couldn't because I have 8:30 classes every morning. And in class, I didn't want to talk at all because I sounded like a croaking toad," said Arnav Bhutada, another freshman plague sufferer at Fordham.
Tips for coping
Though freshman plague is not a serious or threatening disease, it can really put a damper on those first months of college. To make it more bearable, take ibuprofen to help ease sore throats and general achiness, Reitman said. Get lots of fluids and sleep, and maybe swap out that pizza and fries for soup at the dining hall.
If more serious symptoms appear — fever above 102 degrees or diarrhea — or the illness persists beyond a week, students should consider seeking medical attention.
Students who are bedridden should curl up with a nice mug of tea, catch up on Netflix and wait for the body to cleanse itself of the virus so they can go back to making the most of their college experience.
See all News Updates of the Day
- By VOA News
Michigan State international students get their own space
Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, is setting aside a space in the International Center for international students.
Nidal Dajani, vice president of the school's International Student Association, said that the club plans to use the space to host events and hopes to collaborate with other student groups.
- By Dylan Ebs
International students find community during Pride Month
For LGBTQ+ international students, Pride Month, observed in June, is a unique time to reflect.
They hold on to multiple identities — both their LGBTQ+ identity and their cultural background — but coming to terms with them is not always easy.
For graduate student David Zhou, these identities can feel conflicting as transgender rights in China remain a controversial issue and spaces for LGBTQ people close. Zhou, 25, is transgender and pursuing an education in the STEM field at an urban university in the Midwestern United States.
VOA is using a pseudonym for Zhou’s first name and is not naming his university to protect his identity due to safety concerns back home in China. Zhou is not open about his transgender identity to his family.
During Pride Month, Zhou said he attended multiple LGBTQ+ events in his community and is surrounded by a supportive group of LGBTQ+ students who can relate to his experiences. But he’s not open about his identity to everyone on campus and said he doesn’t disclose his preferred pronouns to everyone to avoid transphobic comments.
“I feel like I have to make some judgments of the character of that person to see if they’re a good person to disclose [my identity] to,” Zhou said.
Zhou’s Pride Month celebrations included attending local markets with LGBTQ+ vendors and hanging out with his LGBTQ+ friends.
“They normalized being trans and for a long time I feel like trans identity is, should I say a vulnerability, brings me fear and worrying about discrimination, but having those events are helpful because it allowed me to see that queer people could just [live] openly,” he said.
At social events where few international students are present, Zhou said it can be tough to fit in.
“There's a lot of times like when they were talking about things I kind of, don't really understand, mostly because I kind of lack some background experience or knowledge,” he said.
Zhou said he is not aware of specific groups for LGBTQ+ international students at his university, but said international students are more prevalent in graduate programs and therefore find representation in organizations for LGBTQ+ graduate students.
In China, transgender individuals must obtain consent from an “immediate family member,” even for adults hoping to transition, which critics say limits the autonomy of transgender individuals while supporters say the policy protects doctors from violence by upset parents.
Struby Struble, a former coordinator of the University of Missouri LGBTQ+ Resource Center, told NAFSA: Association of International Educators in 2015 that LGBTQ+ international students face a “double barrier” on campus.
“With their international student friends, they feel isolated because they’re the LGBT one,” she said. “But then among the LGBT students on campus, they feel isolated because they’re the international one.”
Nick Martin, associate director of the Q Center, Binghamton University’s LGBTQ+ student support office, said when international students tour the center, there’s often a sense of hesitation as they enter a type of space that may not be present in their home country.
“I compare that to a year in after they've come into the space, they've again, maybe come to some of our events, they've got more connected,” he said.
Martin said graduate students have a unique interest in the Q Center as they may use the office for research and advocacy purposes that align with their studies.
“For older students, there may be hesitancy in a different way, but I think it's more in the vein of they want to do some of the advocacy work,” he said.
Martin said he thinks about how both his office and BU’s international student office can support students who come from countries with few — if any — protections for LGBTQ+ individuals.
“It's been a learning process of what those students really need, but I think I've kind of learned that a lot of students are just looking for the safe space that we offer,” Martin said.
- By VOA News
International students discuss US campus culture shock
International students at De Anza College in Cupertino, California, talked about culture shock in an article in La Voz News, the student newspaper.
"It felt like a major culture shock. Everything was so different, from academics to mannerism," said a student from Mexico.
Read the full story here.
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