<p>a student exchange program. They're a little rare, but I guess there's no harm in asking around. I guess my best shot at studying abroad is to stay here for undergraduate studies then apply and hope to be accepted to do graduate studies abroad.</p>
<p>I think that graduate study in the US is a good option for you. Now is the time to look ahead and see what is involved in getting accepted.</p>
<p>Check and see what universities in Egypt have students that are regularly accepted to schools in the US. See if there are particular requirements (tests -- like the GRE, Toefl, etc). See if there are study abroad or summer internships available in the US or other foreign countries that you could do while an undergraduate. Talk to your parents and let them know that this is your plan. Contact some potential graduate schools in the US and ask what is required for a student from Egypt to be successful in applying to graduate school.</p>
<p>What you want to do (go to school and live in another country far away) is a big deal and you need to look ahead and plan to make it happen.</p>
<p>Considering the anti Arab sentiments that have existed in the U.S. since Sept. 11, if I were an Egyptian parent, I would not want my kid coming to the U.S. to go to college now.</p>
<p>Certainly, not everyone in the U.S. is prejudiced. However, things here are especially difficult now for people who are MIddle Eastern, even if such people were born in the U.S. I wouldn't want my kid faced with such challenges.</p>
<p>Ahah.</p>
<p>I really don't think think that's even going to be a mild issue for an Egyptian student. Especially if he attends a high school with even a mild amount of diversity.</p>
<p>My spent the summer in Cairo learning Arabic and thoroughly enjoyed himself -- he didn't have any problems. He was part of a high school exchange program. There are numerous exchange programs out there sending kids from the middle-east over to America. I do know that the programs are highly competitive. If the OP really wants an experience in the US, it is available -- she will just have to work for it. </p>
<p>Northstarmom -- I would not have a problem sending my child to the US in a supported exchange program or if they were older. I think the combination of being female, being so young and wanting to go to a US college where she would be on her own is the problem. I wouldn't let her go!</p>
<p>I have to agree with Band. I think there may be a perception of hostility, but the reality is quite different.</p>
<p>There are many exchange programs out there. My family hosts with AFS (formerly American Field Services). But you could contact YFU (Youth for Understanding) or CIEE too, to compare programs. All have web sites. As far as Middle Eastern students coming to the US, we have found little to no problems with attitudes with the kids. AFS has students from Egypt and Turkey this year that I know of (they are placed in Michigan), and I'm sure from other Middle East countries too. The US State Department has programs in place providing scholarships specifically for students from Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and Malaysia, the Phillipines, India... known as the YES program. The focus is on Islamic students. More info can be found at <a href="http://www.exchanges.state.gov/education/citizens/students/nena/yes.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.exchanges.state.gov/education/citizens/students/nena/yes.htm</a></p>
<p>Think about it.</p>
<p>"I really don't think think that's even going to be a mild issue for an Egyptian student. Especially if he attends a high school with even a mild amount of diversity."</p>
<p>Have you talked to any Arabs in this country? My thoughts are that their perspective may surprise you.</p>
<p>My S went to a high school that had one Arab-American family. As the mother told me, "You wouldn't believe what we have gone through since 911."</p>
<p>I personally witnessed a teacher being cruel to her S, who was a thoughtful, gentle young man. Others whom I trust witnessed the same teacher's being cruel to the D. (I did complain to administration about what I saw).</p>
<p>S's school program was diverse, and our town is very liberal. If that family suffered here, I can't imagine what Arabs experience elsewhere.</p>
<p>I would not want to send my kids to live some place where they'd get extra scrutiny because of their race or national origin. Imagine what it must be like for Arabs going through airline security here or even sitting next to someone on an airline.</p>
<p>As an African American, I know what it's like to get extra scrutiny when I'm shopping, and to have to make sure that my sons are doing community service out of altruism, not because they are court-ordered. It's hard enough dealing with things like this when the U.S. is one's country of origin and one has plenty of similar peers. It must be extremely hard dealing with things like this when there aren't very many people of one's ethnicity around, and when the U.S. is at war with people whose ethnicity is one's own.</p>
<p>NorthStarMom:</p>
<p>You are exactly right. The possible actions or reactions that a young student from an Arab country or Eqypt might and probably would experience attending school in the USA today are such that any parent whould be worried and concerned.</p>
<p>That some think it is not a big problem and a true concern only clarifies that very fact.</p>
<p>So, because there is a perceived issue of racism and anti-Arab sentiment, we should close our doors to learning more about their culture? That Mid-East parents should not send their children to the US? Sorry, but I think it is exactly the reason we should be encouraging them to come. If you look at the foreign students coming to the US, they are bright, intelligent; usually the cream of the crop, so to speak. To have them come and serve as ambassadors of their countries is an amazing experience. To have them in our high schools makes our own children more tolerant and culturally aware. They touch our lives at a time when a young person is still forming their perspectives on who they are and how they view the world. To have a student go home and tell their family and friends that "Americans are nothing like what I'd been told!" And vv, an American student say, "Wow, I never thought I'd like a Muslim!" is, well, amazing! </p>
<p>I regret that Northstarmom has had such negative experiences (and I certainly hope that the teacher involved in the incident was reprimanded), I wince every time I hear about these things. I would never say that these things do not happen. I do believe, though, that having the OP do an exchange year in high school, where she is living with an American family who will respond to any sort of problem on her behalf, she will be less likely to have issues than at the college level. And she can decide if going to college in the US is truly what she wants.</p>
<p>Last year we had a few Iraqis and a North Korean in our high school class. Here we're talking a nation that is actually at odds with the U.S., as opposed to our ally Egypt. And I don't even mean someone who defected, he was on a temporary education visa and has to return in a year. I've never personally witnessed any cruelty or prejudice towards any of these people (the attitude is curiosity, really), and from what I've personally heard from them, they've experienced a minimum of negativity in our area.</p>
<p>The real racist attitudes I see around here are towards hispanics. Exchange students are here to learn and are hardly targets for discrimination. Besides, when kids think of Egypt, they think of pyramids. Not Islam.</p>
<p>" So, because there is a perceived issue of racism and anti-Arab sentiment, we should close our doors to learning more about their culture? That Mid-East parents should not send their children to the US? "</p>
<p>No one suggested that we close our doors to learning more about their culture. I did say that I think that right now the U.S. is a difficult and dangerous place for people who are Arab, and if I were Arab, I would not be sending my kids here to study. My reason would be because of the discrimination and even danger that they'd experience.</p>
<p>To me, Arabs traveling to the U.S. now are at risk just as was true for Asians traveling to Detroit in the early 1980s. There was a lot of hostility in Detroit then toward Asians, and at least one Asian, Vincent Chin, was killed because of that hostility.</p>
<p>I certainly believe that people in the U.S. should learn about Arab culture. However, if I were an Arab parent, I wouldn't be sending my kids here so that U.S. students could learn about our culture. There really is a lot of hostility here toward Middle Easteners, and one never knows what could happen.</p>
<p>Here's some evidence:</p>
<p>"Arab-Americans reported an increasing sense of victimization, suspicion of government and law enforcement, and concerns about protecting their civil liberties, according to the study, which was paid for by the National Institute of Justice, a research agency of the Justice Department. A fear of surveillance ranked high among their concerns. ...</p>
<p>A series of post-9/11 policies have sown the deepest fear among Arab-Americans, including unease about the USA Patriot Act, voluntary interviews of thousands of Arab-Americans by federal agents, and an initiative known as Special Registration, in which more than 80,000 immigrant men were fingerprinted, photographed and questioned by authorities...."</p>
<p><a href="http://www.adc.org/index.php?id=2818%5B/url%5D">http://www.adc.org/index.php?id=2818</a></p>
<p>"
But in Americas post-9/11 trauma, cracks have opened in the US self-image that people are first Americans and only then members of ethnic or religious groups.</p>
<p>Even second- and third-generation people born here encounter problems and are afraid of encountering problems, said James Zogby, head of the Arab American Institute in Washington....</p>
<p>Recent research highlights Arab-American fears that the government is spying on them, and a rise in tension with law enforcement and justice officials, who have been accused of ethnic and religious stereotyping.</p>
<p>Studies also found that Arab Americans are more than twice as prone to depression than average Americans and that their wages have fallen since 2001, especially in areas with high levels of hate crimes.</p>
<p>On the other side of the divide, many Americans view Muslims negatively. A USA Today poll in August found 39 per cent believe that Muslims, even US citizens, should carry special identification as an anti-terrorist measure.</p>
<p>Already, anti-Muslim discrimination ranges from nasty e-mails at work to hate crimes such as mosque burnings. Recent immigrants, store owners and students are most at risk, especially if they wear obviously Arab or Muslim clothing, Zogby said."</p>
<p>Well, one can always find something to support their point of view. And good news does not make good press. It is my personal belief that simply because there is so much negative press about Muslims and the Middle East, we should be more pro-active in reaching out and trying to counter that negative press. Making parents from those countries more comfortable about sending their kids here (and vv) is a priority with the exchange programs. Am I saying that what Northstarmom is pointing out does not happen? No. But the more we educate people about misconceptions commonly held, the better off we are as a people.</p>
<p>Wells80,
Are you Muslim or Arab? If so, I can have a lot of respect for your viewpoint because you'd be living in the post 911 situation, so would clearly be willing to risk your life or your kids' lives to educate Americans about Arabs or Muslim.</p>
<p>If not, would you be willing to go to, for instance, a Middle Eastern country to educate people about Americans? Would you be willing to spend a year at American University in Cairo, for instance?</p>
<p>This is not to imply that all Middle Easterners are anti American or that all Americans are hostile toward Middle Easterners. However, I think that most people would agree that Arabs are likely to attract more hostility now in America than before 911. The same is true of Americans in Arab countries.</p>
<p>As for me, if I were a Middle Eastern native and resident, I'd no more be willing to send my kid to college in the U.S. now than I would have been willing to send my black sons to live in Miss. during the lynching days. For the record, I'm black, as is my husband. When he was 16, his parents let him travel 1,000 miles to go south to Fla. to sell dictionaries. When he was returning home in a car with some white teens, their car was chased by some white guys driving a pickup truck who apparently mistook them for civil rights workers. </p>
<p>Anyway, it's all well and good to act like there's no hostility here against Middle Easteners or to act like it's somehow the job of a teen to stop others' prejudices and hostilities against his culture. But anyone who believes othere should do this should be willing to put their own body on the line.</p>
<p>Northstarmom -- while I can understand your point (and in the case of the OP, she is young and female) I think it is important to realize that the news reports are not always accurate.</p>
<p>Yes -- I did send my 16 year old son to Cairo for the summer where he represented America. He traveled the streets alone, shopped in the bazaars, rode the taxis and bus and spent tons of time talking with the ordinary man on the street. The family he lived with sent their 15 year old daughter to the states in August and she is living with a family and attending school in a small town in texas.</p>
<p>Neither my son, nor his "sister" has experienced any type agressive bigotry and neither has ever felt in danger because of their race or religion. </p>
<p>My son did get into heated discussion with other Egyptians about 911, Islam, hezbollah (the conflict between Israel and Lebanon occurred while he was there) and all the other "touchy" subjects. He feels he learned a great deal about how the Egyptians and people in the middle east thought. He plans on going back again this coming summer.</p>
<p>I am not saying that there is no prejudice -- but it is not at a level where a teen should feel in danger in my opinion. It may be different in your town -- but i live in a very conservative area (focus on the family's HQ is here), and it isn't an issue here.</p>
<p>first of all--I'm a guy. sorry if i gave the impression that i'm a she. :) lol
this is another reason i think my parents should reconsider not leting me go to the US...they'd be alot more over-protective if i were a girl.</p>
<p>anyway, one of the main reasons they don't want me to go is because of what they see on TV. How now alot of the new terrorists targeted by the US gov. are Arab and all the racial profiling stuff. Even on the popular American shows; an episode or two portray Arabs in a negitive way. They, and I, know that not the majority of American's feel that way; but they still worry.
and, yeah, Egypt is very westernized and most Americans who've been here know that and know that Egyptians try hard to dispell the negitive things going around lately.
I personally think that there should be more comunication between people so that the media won't have such a powerful effect of people's perceptions of others.</p>
<p>I have been to Egypt. :)
I know that most Americans aren't hostile toward Arabs. However, I think that enough are that I agree with your parents not sending you here now.</p>
<p>The town where I live is liberal with lots of educated, well traveled people. Still, I have personally seen hostility toward Arabs, as I described before. The local mosque also has been vandalized.</p>
<p>I also think that you are very young to be traveling that far away to college. </p>
<p>If you eventually want to study abroad, have you considered Canada?</p>
<p>Stuck - yes, I think we all did get the impression you were female. Sorry! Another question - are you Arab/Muslim? I think that we are also assuming that point and it may not be true. Bravo to you for realizing the media's impact...</p>
<p>Northstarmom - No, I am not Arab, Muslim, or any other minority. I'm about as WASPy as they come :-), and female. But before you say that I can't understand what is happening I will let you know that I grew up military. Born in Tripoli (yes, Libya) and lived 2 years in Iran. Here in the States, I lived mostly in the south - AL, SC, FL... Having spent my youth wandering :-), I have now spent my adult professional life in the travel industry. Yes, I would go to the Middle East in a heartbeat. My last trip to the area was to Jordan (post 911). And if circumstances were such that I had the opportunity to live in Egypt, Jordan, Syria... You wouldn't have to ask me twice. I am hoping that by hosting foreign exchange students my children (boys, 10 and 12) will want to do an exchange program.</p>
<p>As hsmomstef says, I am not saying prejudice does not exist and that many people, no matter how much you try, are ever going to change their minds about "those d*** ragheads". But that those are the majority of Americans? NOT! I'm sure there are many who have anti-American sentiments in Egypt too, but are they the majority? I don't think so. But you'd think so if you took what the media reports as the last word.</p>
<p>Stuck - perhaps have your parents read this dialogue. One thing about Americans, we do love to debate points! I respect Northstarmom's opinion, I'm sure that everyone reading this can relate to both our opinions. I would just encourage you to explore this option with your parents. (Canada would be a good choice, too.) If they still feel that this is not for you, then so be it. However, you sound mature and intelligent (certainly, your language skills are great if English is not your native language...) and I would certainly love to have a student like you stay with my family.</p>
<p>wells08,I am Arab. and Muslim as well.
northstarmom, canada's never crossed my mind lol. I've always thought of American as the "land of opportunity"...but Canada is just as good I guess. I know a few people who went there for college.</p>
<p>Whatever you (and your parents) decide to do, good luck to you and let us know! Canada is lovely (I have relatives there) if that works out...</p>
<p>Canada is lovely. But unfortunately, Canadians are even more provincial than Americans (I'm Canadian but have lived most of my life in various American cities). Big cities in Canada are not "melting pots" in the same way that American cities are -- ethnic groups in Toronto, for example, tend to live in ethnic enclaves. When I was growing up in Canada, hate crimes were unknown -- in fact, violent crime of any sort was virtually unknown. That is no longer true. The recent apprehension in Toronto of Islamist terrorists has turned the WASP population against muslims. Much as I'd like to believe my countrymen are morally superior, it just ain't so.</p>