Story By: Cortrez Colbert
Many international students around the country are victims of tragedies that occur in their hometown. It could be hectic when innocent people are killed and internationals students are trying to figure out what is going on in their country and if their family is safe.
Missouri Western exchange student, Fab Forestier, experienced this firsthand when terrorists killed nearly 130 people on November 13, 2015 in Paris, France. Though Forestier is from Rhone-Alpes, France, this attack hit close to home because he knew a few people from Paris.
“When I heard about the attack, the first thing I did was listen and read to know more about the situation and, of course, contact my friends in Paris to make sure they were okay,” Forestier said. “I wasn’t worried about my family because none of my family lives in Paris,”
International students all over the country face problems like this. The hardest part for Forestier during this attack is seeing his country hurt.
“I mean, this is hard in the way that you see your country vulnerable to these kinds of attacks,” Forestier said. “Of course I was really sad and kind of angry too, because more than 100 innocent people died for no reason.”
These types of events can happen anywhere, that’s why Forestier doesn’t call being in the United States safe when the attack occurred.
“The fact that I was in the United States didn’t really change anything because, thankfully, I didn’t lose anybody during the attacks because I live far away from Paris,” Forestier said. “Even if you might feel safer when you are far from where it happens, recent events showed us that it could happen anywhere. So, there is still that feeling of insecurity.”
Forestier left some advice for other students that may be in a similar situation as him during attacks on their country.
“You have two options; yield to fear and hide in your house, or keep living your life and show these people that no matter what they do, we will get up and get on with our life,” Forestier said.