NTNU Students at Harvard: «We’re Living in a Bubble» 

Fakta

Akademia under Trump

Vil USAs demokratiske institusjoner overleve Trump? 

Mens uroen brer seg gjør forskere og forelesere ved universitetene hva de kan for å holde aktivitetsnivået gående på ordinært vis. I laboratorier og auditorier er det business as usual. Men forstyrrelsene øker på. Hva tenker faculty om sin situasjon, nå, i den nære framtid og på lengre sikt? Hvordan har studentene det?

I en artikkelserie finansiert av stiftelsen Fritt Ord besøker Universitetsavisa og Uniforum en rekke universiteter i USA denne høsten. Vi rapporterer fra situasjonen slik den erfares fra bakkenivå.

Denne artikkelen er publisert både på norsk og engelsk. Den norske versjonen finner du her.

A knife-edge battle is underway between the Trump administration and America’s elite universities, with Harvard leading the opposition. International students have become one of the hottest points of contention. But what does everyday life look like from their perspective?

UA met with three exchange students from NTNU, who are spending this fall and winter at Harvard. They prefer not to be identified by name. They say politics isn’t something they feel much affected by. As one of them puts it:

«We live in a bubble here»

We meet them at a café on the edge of campus. The academic year is still fairly new. How are they doing here? We go around the table.

- It’s really cool, one of them says.

“It’s quite different from being in Norway. You can sense that the academic culture here is a bit different from back home. And it’s really inspiring to walk around in buildings and facilities that are a bit beyond what we have at home.”

- What are the biggest differences from student life at Dragvoll or Gløshaugen?

- I think they are going to come for all of us

“Being a student here is totally different from being a student back home. Here you live on campus, eat all your meals on campus, and spend all your time with the same people. Everything happens around the university. In Norway, things happen more outside of school life. Everyone here lives on campus and eats on campus — at home it’s not like that. So back home, the university is a meeting place, but here the university is everything.”

- So here you’re a student 24/7?

- Yes.

Being Looked After

They say they are looked after and followed up in a very different way than at NTNU.

- Here things are much more manual, registering for courses and such, but you get a lot of help along the way. Back home it’s more automated, but you’re not taken care of in the same way.

There’s one thing they all agree on:

- People here are very friendly. Friendlier, I’d say. And easier to talk to. That’s really practical when you’re an exchange student and don’t know anyone. It’s easy to strike up a conversation with random people on campus.

American students, they note, are generally much more practiced in oral presentation skills, something they train from an early age in debate clubs. Many have well-connected parents who make sure their kids join the right activities and maybe even lead a youth organization or two, building their CVs long before applying to Harvard.

Better Lectures

- The lectures themselves are quite different too. Professors here put more effort into engaging the students. They seem very concerned with how they’re perceived by their students. I guess there are incentive structures that favor that. But yes — there’s more passion, I’d say, from the lecturer’s side.

- Do you think the lectures are better, or just more engaging?

- The courses I’ve chosen have better lectures. But I also picked them based on the best online reviews. I’m sure there are bad lecturers here too.

They explain that Harvrd has a database listing all courses, open to all students. They are encouraged to use it, and many rely on the scores there when selecting classes.

He worries students will be discouraged from coming

«Very, Very Surreal»

Earlier this year, Universitetsavisa asked one of the three NTNU students what he thought about becoming an exchange student at Harvard. He said he was very proud to have been accepted. We ask if he still feels that way now.

- Yes, it’s absolutely incredible to be here. It’s strange to think that everyone you meet here is a Harvard student. It feels very, very surreal. But I’m really happy to be here — and to be here with friends from back home. I’m thriving.”

- What about politics — do you notice much of it in everyday student life at Harvard?

- Not really. I haven’t felt that it’s been a focus at all, actually. It seems like everyone assumes things will work out — and so far, they have. Some of the staff don’t seem particularly engaged either, at least not in what they communicate to us. So we just live our student lives and things move along fine. That’s the impression I have.

The other two nod in agreement. One adds:

- Regarding whether we pick up on what’s happening politically — it’s not just this issue. Honestly, everything happening outside the walls of Harvard feels a bit distant when you’re here. The academic and social sides take up all your time. We really live in a bubble. From morning till night, you’re at some activity, or in the library, or eating on campus.

“The question is how dark it’s going to get”

The third student chimes in:

- Before we came here, everything going on felt so intense and overwhelming. But after we arrived, it quieted down. We just had to get through security.

- How did that go?

- Well, one of us had some trouble and had to go through an extra round at the airport, but it worked out.

- You don’t want to be identified by name. Why not?

After some discussion, the three of them agree on the following statement:

- Due to the uncertainty that's been going on, it feels right for us not to come forward with our names.