Come summer, international students at Dartmouth seeking internships fall victim to paradoxical expectations facing foreign students. Resume-boosting is as vital for Swedes looking to build a professional future as it is for Americans, but for us so-called F1 students, this experience comes at a price.
As I'm writing this column, I'm sitting in a Northampton apartment with a cup of noodles and a bowl of canned tomato soup. Paying rent and buying food while deprived of an income has forced me to become innovative in my new lifestyle, and I'm already longing for the "luxurious" food awaiting me back at Dartmouth (sushi at Collis Late Night!).
For those who remain economically independent from "daddy" during their passage into the working world, money quickly becomes an issue -- particularly for those without an American passport. This financial struggle stems from international students' F1 visa status, which denies us the right to get paid for working non-College jobs while in the U.S. without extensive authorization from Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Taking expenses such as rent and food into account means that we are expected to pay for experience. Pay to work.
The cost of living during the months of our off-terms is not our only expense. In reality, we are forced to pay for these very off-terms themselves as well: I recently became aware that the expected student contribution for students on scholarship increases each year of their Dartmouth career, as the College argues that students' off-term earnings should cover an exponentially increasing portion of tuition each year. Although recent changes to the College's financial aid program have lessened this burden, allowing these students one off-term of work without this financial expectation, a disconnect between the College's expectations and the limitations imposed by American immigration laws undeniably remains.
F1 students struggle with a variety of limitations when entering an American college, and students at Dartmouth are no exception. Not only are internationals exempted from the freedom of the D-Plan, as we are forced to stay on campus for at least three terms in a row, we are then also expected to remain in the country to do internships and gain professional experience during our off-terms.
Succeeding in college, as we all know, requires more than just studying; networking and resume-boosting activities could well bring us far more opportunities than our GPA does upon graduation from Dartmouth. Although some international students choose to visit their families during off-terms, rejecting the temptation of valuable American internships, there are also those who struggle to reconcile their wants and needs by following the expectations of their fellow (American) classmates.
I will not put the weight of this country's immigration laws on Dartmouth, but I do believe that the College ought to take further action to enable internationals to enjoy the same benefits as the rest of the student population. The first step would be to encourage us to challenge ourselves through unpaid internships throughout our College career, rather than punishing us with an increasing tuition for our decision to explore different professions in the United States. By asking us to pay a higher contribution to the school, we are trapped in a contradictory situation in which we are discouraged from working in the U.S., yet are expected to gain professional experience in this country.
I do recognize that programs through the Rockefeller Center, the Tucker Foundation, the Dickey Center and Career Services have shown great support for students by creating unpaid internship scholarships available to international as well as American students. However, the categories for these scholarships are too limited to allow all students to pursue their chosen path. My decision to work for an immigration law firm this summer left me ineligible for all of the aforementioned programs, as the firm is neither a non-profit, nor in the public sector.
Even for qualified candidates, the competition for these scholarships is stiff. International students shouldn't have to rely on highly selective programs to explore their chosen field of interest.
Individual departments can only do so much, and the ultimate responsibility must lie in the hands of the College. If Dartmouth is to continue its plan to diversify the student population, it must be able to provide for the students it attracts. Stop denying that internationals are equally eager competitors in the American scramble for success, and start giving us a full set of tools to explore.
