Elizabethtown College recently announced that they will be awarding five scholarships in the amount of $25,000 to Syrian refugees who have a desire to become students at the school.
Upon hearing this news, I was both excited and proud to be attending a college that was this welcoming to those who truly need it.
But when I shared the news on Facebook, I was shocked and upset to learn that not everyone was as excited about this as I was. Some people were angry about it, and downright disrespectful to the college and the potential Syrian students. I was, in turn, angry at these individuals for their repugnant reactions to such a great thing that Etown is doing.
Well I’ve got some choice words for those narrow-minded individuals who think it’s okay to judge someone based on where they come from.
Refugees are people too. Plain and simple.
They deserve the same respect as anyone else. If anything, they of all people deserve more respect, courtesy, and compassion than the average person.
So to the people who have a problem with refugees in our country and attending our schools:
Do you even have any idea what the refugees are going through? Do you even have an inkling of what it’s like to be a refugee?
Can you imagine what it would be like to live in the middle of a war zone, knowing you could die at virtually any moment? Can you even fathom the pain these individuals may have felt?
Refugees have to leave their homes behind, and many refugees have to leave without their families, sometimes for financial reasons or because certain family members are too old to travel.
Can you imagine what it would be like to leave behind everything that was once familiar to you? Your loved ones and your country…gone.
When I was studying abroad in Germany I lived on the same floor as two Syrians. They weren’t necessarily considered refugees, but they were both sent away by their families because the situation back home was becoming too dangerous.
These two students were no different than any other students I encountered, except for one thing-- they were much friendlier. Out of everyone on the apartment floor, those two were the most talkative and welcoming.
I spent a lot of time cooking with the one boy from Syria. I never really questioned his friendly attitude, but rather I welcomed it as the lone American who knew only a handful of people in the town.
Looking back, it all makes sense.
He left his entire family behind. His grandparents, parents, siblings and cousins all stayed behind in Syria. His family was afraid something bad would happen and chose to pull together and send him to Germany so he could have a good future. He couldn’t even speak any German.
When we would talk, he would never complain, but he would say how he got homesick sometimes. He really missed his family, and I could tell he was lonely.
I could never imagine going through something like that, but if I were to experience something similar, if I were ever a refugee, I can only hope that some people would be nice enough to reach out to me.
I would hope that rather than just giving me the benefit of the doubt, they would show me some compassion. And when those people show me compassion, I would hope that other individuals wouldn’t ridicule them for their commendable behavior.
I would hope that people would realize it’s unfair to judge someone by where they come from.
The refugees coming into our country are victims and should be treated as such. There is a reason they are leaving their countries behind. We should not view them as invaders and try and kick them while they’re down.
Of course there have been instances of problems occurring with refugees. There are bad eggs in every bunch, and we cannot expect them to adjust to a new country in a few days.
But the bottom line is that these individuals have been through so much and deserve a helping hand more than anyone else.
Think before you judge someone, because I guarantee most refugees are fighting a battle you can’t even begin to imagine.
