Saba Nafees is currently running for graduate vice president with Techsan Tradition. Picture by Jordann Fowler.
At one point, Saba Nafees was unsure if she would be able to attend college or not. Originally from Lahore, Pakistan, Nafees was an undocumented citizen when she graduated from her Fort Worth high school.
The mathematical biology graduate student and candidate for graduate vice president for the Student Government Association said this is a common issue for international students.
“Texas Tech really made it possible for me to pursue my dream of higher education when they were able to accommodate me, and understand my situation.”
According to the Texas Tech Factbook, 5 percent of the Texas Tech student population is of foreign residency, and SGA executive candidates see this upcoming year as an opportunity to improve international students’ experience in Raiderland.
Nafees said international students face many challenges other people take for granted. She said it is difficult for foreign students to receive financial aid, or even get a job so they can pay for school.
One of Nafees’ main goals if elected is to increase funding for international graduate students to encourage them to stay at Texas Tech for graduate school. She also wants to add more bus routes to the apartment complexes that have the most international residents.
Nafees said another goal she would like to accomplish is to encourage international and multicultural students to participate in SGA. She said she is currently the only international student serving as a graduate senator in SGA. She has encouraged five other international students to run for a graduate senator position under Techsan Tradition. Nafees said this is a good start to show all students that SGA is there for them.
From left to right: Holton Westbrook, president candidate, Saba Nafees, graduate vice president candidate, Valerie Briley, internal vice president candidate, and Ben Sharp, external vice president candidate. Picture by Jordann Fowler.
“The biggest misconception that they all had,” Nafees said when talking about international graduate students, “they all seemed to think that SGA was an undergrad program. They all thought that SGA existed to address undergrad needs only. And they didn’t really even know what that (SGA) stood for, what SGA does. And, of course, that was a cultural difference, with a new environment. But, I was appalled.”
Nafees said that if elected, Techsan Tradition will increase funding for all international students, including multicultural student organizations, and reevaluate some requirements that do not help multicultural students.
Charlie Mitchell, Caleb Fisher, and Amber Yanez, collectively known as OneTech 2015, also have ideas to improve international students’ conditions.
Mitchell, presidential candidate, said although they do not have an international student running for an executive position with their bloc, the group has been talking to many foreign students to figure out their concerns and needs.
“We sat down with two of our friends who are from Egypt and Oman,” Mitchell said. “And they were telling us all of these issues that multicultural students have, or that people who come from other countries have, that we weren’t even aware of. So we really want to do things to: one, help these students, and two, make sure everyone, including multicultural students feel like they have a say in student government.”
From left to right: Caleb Fisher, external vice president candidate, Charlie Mitchell, president candidate, and Amber Yanez, internal vice president candidate. Picture by Jordann Fowler.
Mitchell said OneTech 2015 has particular initiatives they would like to accomplish to help foreign students.
He said many students who come to the United States for school do not know anyone once they get here. Mitchell said they would like to start a “Welcome Home” program, where either an SGA representative or another student who is from the same country would meet the new international student at the Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport and begin to show them around the town.
This program would also help multicultural students with setting up a bank account, a cell phone, and other things that American students sometimes take for granted, Mitchell said. This would show these students that SGA is here to help and represent them., he added.
Going along with the current Quality Enhancement Plan, OneTech 2015 would like to establish a buddy program where anyone can be involved, international and American students, and become friends and learn more about other cultures.
Fisher, external vice presidential candidate, said the buddy program would encourage cross cultural friendships.
“You can share a meal together,” Fisher said. “The American student could invite the multicultural student over to his house for a meal, and eat American food, and learn more about American cultures. I think both parties would grow exponentially in their understanding of other people and how cultures function and work by doing this.”
Because most international students come to the United States without a workers’ visa, many international students are unable to get a job. Yanez, internal vice presidential candidate, said that means they are sometimes unable to visit home over school breaks because they cannot afford it. Yanez said if elected, she would like to see SGA initiate a scholarship fund to help international students visit home more often.
There is currently a push to become better global communicators at Texas Tech. Picture by Allison Terry.
“These students would apply for this scholarship,” Yanez said, “and then be granted a certain amount of money to visit back home for, like, Christmas break, when they wouldn’t be able to go back without it.”
One thing every candidate, no matter what campaign bloc, agreed on was that conditions for multicultural students could be improved, and that SGA is a good place to start this campus-wide initiative.
“I think a lot of times, we are ignorant of other peoples’ problems, us and SGA,” Fisher said, “and Tech as a whole could begin to learn from other cultures.”
About Sarah Self-Walbrick
