Burmese international students at Skyline College share their perspective on the difficulties and complications facing them as they study in the U.S.
Myanmar, originally known as Burma, is a country just south of China in the Asian continents.
According to the BBC, Myanmar became independent from Britain in 1948, but has gone through many civil wars since, as sub-national groups fight for leadership.
Due to these conflicts, Myanmar has become a dangerous place to live. Families often do their best to send their kids away from the conflict.
Martin Tun, Burmese international student at Skyline said the issues Burmese students have faced in America aren’t close to the danger they may have faced if they didn’t leave Myanmar.
“We do want to come here,” Martin Tun said. “But the other half of it is we can’t stay back home too because they’re literally arresting people our age for no reason.”
According to BBC News Asia, in February 2021, the civilian government was overthrown in a coup against the military. After taking control, the military issued a conscription law which requires men between the ages of 18-35 to serve two or more years within the armed forces.
Many young men have done their best to avoid this law, but those who are caught face jail time, and severe punishment. The military’s control continues today as more and more people flee its oppressive ruling.
Martin Tun said that when he as well as other Burmese students arrived at Skyline, it produced another problem: paying for college became one of their biggest difficulties.
“Before we arrived in the U.S., the school sent us an I-20,” Dahlia Tun, Burmese student, said. “In there, the tuition fee is 4,000 per semester. But when we arrived here, it became 7,500.”
This dramatic increase in tuition completely surprised her and her family.
“It was really shocking for me because my family was a little bit middle class, and it was really challenging to send me to the U.S.,” Dahlia Tun said.
Families back in Myanmar send money overseas to the U.S. to pay for their kid’s college tuition, Dahlia Tun said. However, due to the constant conflict within the government and military, the economy has collapsed.
Myanmar uses a form of currency known as the kyat. The currency is so inflated that 2,093 kyats is equivalent to one U.S. dollar.
According to Martin Tun, recently it is now 5-6,000 kyats to one U.S. dollar.
“We did expect some levels of difficulties and stress,” Martin Tun said. “But just like how Dahlia was stating earlier, there have been increases in tuition and at the same time … right back home, there’s also increases in exchange rates.”
Another aspect of frustration comes from the fact that, while focusing on academics, Burmese students have their families’ safety constantly weighing on their mind, Isla Aung, Burmese student said.
“We feel homesick and emotional,” Aung said. “Our family isn’t safe in our country because of the civil war … That’s why, before this financial issue, we really worried about our family’s safety.”
Dahlia Tun said that while Burmese students are faced with a number of hardships, they have to finish college for the sake of survival. Returning home or taking a break is the last thing they would like to do.
While they would like to see more resources for international students, Burmese students appreciate the services currently available at Skyline.
“There is SparkPoint,” Martin Tun said. “They give out free groceries … so for students who were already financially struggling, were on their own, [or] in a different foreign country, those things helped a lot.”
However, Martin Tun said they still want to see improvement towards more resources for international students.
“We just need much more of those services,” Martin Tun said. “They could improve those services, and if possible, [create] more dedicated services for international students.”
Martin Tun also said that he wants Skyline to work with the Myanmar Student Union (MSU) to strengthen the school’s relationship with Burmese students.
“You can get to know more about why these specific groups of students are doing these specific kinds of things,” Martin Tun said. “Then, I think we could counter these issues with students and the school too.”
This article has been revised to include the correct year of the coup in Myanmar.
