{"id":102,"date":"2020-07-17T18:07:20","date_gmt":"2020-07-17T18:07:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/?p=102"},"modified":"2020-07-17T18:18:27","modified_gmt":"2020-07-17T18:18:27","slug":"despite-obstacles-chinese-student-fights-for-coding-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/despite-obstacles-chinese-student-fights-for-coding-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite obstacles, Chinese international student fights for her future in the U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio alignleft\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/DianaFinal.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption>Lian Xue talks about her experience as an international student during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">When Lian Xue arrived in Utah from Qingdao, China, two years ago to start college, she expected to find skyscrapers. Instead, she found mountains. Salt Lake City was nothing like the America she saw in movies, but now she calls this mountain city her home.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet the COVID-19 pandemic \u2014 and a controversial government policy \u2014 put her future as a Westminster College student in jeopardy. On July 6, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued an order that would have forced international students to leave the country if their school didn\u2019t offer in-person classes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>\u201cI have been staying up all night just thinking about what should I do after the whole deported thing happen to me, if it happen to me. And I haven\u2019t even finished my undergrad degree. I don&#8217;t know how to start over in China.<\/p><cite>Lian Xue<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Xue, 20, was one of more than a million international students who were left in legal limbo, too afraid to go back to their home countries out of fears they wouldn\u2019t be allowed back into the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the end, public outcry pushed ICE to reverse the policy eight days later. For Xue, the mere existence of this policy led her stay up multiple nights over fears of her possible deportation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m the kind of person that will make plans and do it,\u201d the budding computer scientist said a day before the reversal. \u201cBut right now I can be kicked out tomorrow, and I will have nothing to say about it. Everything depends on what the policy will be next.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ICE\u2019s transfer-or-leave policy capped a rocky semester for the introverted Xue. Like many of her peers, she found herself spending more time indoors after classes went online in March. But, in a state that is 89 percent white, she faced another burden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With coronavirus, being Asian \u201cmeans a lot of anxiety,\u201d she said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She heard news reports of Asian Americans being assaulted for their imagined role in the spread of the pandemic. \u201cAnd you\u2019re just kind of scared.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When she had the choice to wear a mask or go without, she says she often went without.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn that period of time, I think I\u2019d rather get corona than be beaten up on the street,\u201d she said. \u201cI just didn\u2019t want people to look at me weirdly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"758\" src=\"http:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana03-1024x758.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-207\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana03-1024x758.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana03-300x222.jpg 300w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana03-768x568.jpg 768w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana03-1200x888.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana03.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Xue sits at her desk working on her homework and coding. (Photo by Diana Khosrovi)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"714\" height=\"1024\" src=\"http:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana02-714x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-206\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana02-714x1024.jpg 714w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana02-209x300.jpg 209w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana02-768x1101.jpg 768w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana02.jpg 1046w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 714px) 100vw, 714px\" \/><figcaption>Lian Xue runs a busy life as an international student; she fills her days with work, exercise, and play as seen in the do-list and schedule on the wall behind her. (Photo by Diana Khosrovi)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Xue spent most of the spring and summer tucked away in an oasis: her corner room a few miles from campus. Watercolor paintings she created are pinned to a bulletin board, next to her online class schedule and photo-booth portraits with friends. Her guitar leans against the wall, though she insists she can\u2019t really play. BaseCase, her betta fish, swims grumpily in his small tank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-1 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana07-918x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-211\" width=\"341\" height=\"380\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana07-918x1024.jpg 918w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana07-269x300.jpg 269w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana07-768x857.jpg 768w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana07.jpg 1090w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 341px) 100vw, 341px\" \/><figcaption>BaseCase, Xue\u2019s betta fish, keeps her company in her room. (Photo by Diana Khosrovi)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana04-744x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-208\" width=\"344\" height=\"473\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana04-744x1024.jpg 744w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana04-218x300.jpg 218w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana04-768x1057.jpg 768w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana04.jpg 1090w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 344px) 100vw, 344px\" \/><figcaption>One of Xue\u2019s favorite pastimes is to collect flowers and watercolor paint them. (Photo by Diana Khosrovi)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The centerpiece of her room is her computer, featuring a desktop she built from scratch.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI really like web designing and developing, and that\u2019s my biggest passion,\u201d she said. \u201cIf I code, I am happy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"797\" height=\"1024\" src=\"http:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana05-797x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-209\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana05-797x1024.jpg 797w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana05-234x300.jpg 234w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana05-768x986.jpg 768w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana05.jpg 1168w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 797px) 100vw, 797px\" \/><figcaption>Lian codes her new personal website. (Photo by Diana Khosrovi)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Her ultimate goal is to have a career in the U.S., perhaps with a major tech company like Amazon or Google. She recognizes it\u2019s a difficult path, compounded by the coronavirus and rising international tensions between China and the U.S. Yet she sees the reversal of ICE\u2019s transfer-or-leave policy as a silver lining.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAll kinds of things make me feel like I don\u2019t really belong to America,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the policy recall is definitely a big step to make us more involved in this country.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Harvard and MIT filed a federal lawsuit against the ICE policy, which Westminster, Xue\u2019s school, supported in an amicus brief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFrom the student perspective, it\u2019s really important that they see their university make a public stance in support of them,\u201d said Alison Vazquez, who oversees international student services at Westminster College.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vazquez says the reversal of the policy was a \u201cgood day\u201d for international students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not the end, and it doesn\u2019t solve the issues surrounding the pandemic and how it\u2019s affected international students,\u201d Vazquez acknowledged. \u201cBut it\u2019s a positive step forward for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"760\" height=\"1024\" src=\"http:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana06-760x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-210\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana06-760x1024.jpg 760w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana06-223x300.jpg 223w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana06-768x1034.jpg 768w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana06.jpg 1114w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 760px) 100vw, 760px\" \/><figcaption>Lian Xue talks to her friend CK Valle Padayao outside her window. (Photo by Diana Khosrovi)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"713\" src=\"http:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana01-1024x713.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-205\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana01-1024x713.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana01-300x209.jpg 300w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana01-768x535.jpg 768w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana01-1200x836.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2020\/07\/Diana01.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Lian Xue talks to her friend CK Valle Padayao. Padayao is also a student at Westminster college. The two are also working together to achieve greater representation for Westminster\u2019s Asian student body. They are planning to launch LAPIS club &#8212; League of Asian Pacific Islander Students &#8212; for their campus community in the fall. (Photo by Diana Khosrovi)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As for Xue, she\u2019s grateful for her university\u2019s contribution.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEven though there\u2019s always people who have opinions towards us, there\u2019s another group of people that stand by our side and fight for us, and I can\u2019t appreciate it enough,\u201d she said. \u201cI believe that if we\u2019re confident enough and we keep calling society for action, there\u2019s actually ways that we can change something in the future.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A pandemic and a divisive federal policy jeopardized Lian Xue\u2019s dream of becoming a coder. But she isn\u2019t ready to give up. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":96,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[6],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/365"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kuer2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}