Yesterday morning, Hanan Mas’Od, an ISU student from Malaysia, was scrolling through her Twitter feed when she came across news of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 and began crying.

The tears were not those of joy.

According to a press statement, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said, “[Missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370’s] last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth. This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites. It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that … flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.”

Flight MH370 disappeared on March 8, giving the world a mystery to solve. The prime minster publicly gave his statement on March 24, ending the 16-day search for the missing plane.

Mas’Od, junior in journalism and mass communication, said she was shocked by the news and didn’t want to believe it.

“It’s freaky how anybody on that plane could have been our family,” Mas’Od said.

The news didn’t come as a shock to everyone, though.

“As time goes by, you just sort of lose hope,” said Sanvisna all Kogelen, junior in mechanical engineering from Malaysia. “The confirmation does not come as much of a shocker.”

Some students still remain hopeful that the plane will reappear, or at least have survivors.

“A lot of people are focusing on why the plane got off track and how it happened, but my main focus is if there are survivors,” Mas’Od said.

Others feel the focus should be on victims’ surviving families and friends, as they’re the ones left to mourn the tragedy.

“Whatever happened to [the passengers on the plane], it’s sad. They lost their lives. But it’s not about the people in the plane anymore. We need to know how they [victims’ next of kin] are going to survive,” said Adli Shah, senior in industrial engineering from Malaysia.

Even though they are away from their home country, many Malaysian students think the impact of the prime minister’s statement is overreaching. It doesn’t just affect the people involved, but also how the world’s view of Malaysia.

“When this thing happened, it put our country and our reputation at stake,” said Faziera Adznan, freshman in psychology from Malaysia. “Everyone’s been looking at us, judging us and assuming and making speculations.”

Adznan also said that because there is nothing anyone can do about the plane and its passengers, they can only pray and come together.

“This is the moment when, regardless of our races and religions, we should be together as one and do our best to handle this situation,” Adznan said.

Benjamin Faiz, junior in chemistry from Malaysia, said that even with criticisms, he thinks Malaysia handled the situation well. He only wishes the confirmation would have come earlier so people could begin moving on.

“What I’m hoping happened is, if it is confirmed what happened actually happened, that they did whatever they could to try to stop that from happening,” Faiz said.

The plane’s disappearance also affected students personally.

Armand Saat, sophomore in pre-business from Malaysia, said he knew the pilot of the missing plane, as he was the father of one of his close friends.

“I’ve been to his house many times,” Saat said. “I’ve seen [my friend], seen his mom, sister, brother. It’s sad if the plane was actually lost.”

Mas’Od also has a friend who works as a stewardess for Malaysian Airlines, and the impact on the airline has been felt internationally with such relationships.

With all the conspiracy theories circulating about why Flight MH370 disappeared in the first place, Malaysian students at Iowa State are not sure what to think.

“Only God knows what happened,” Mas’Od said.

Most of their theories involve technical difficulties, but they can’t be sure with all the plausible theories floating around the Internet.

Despite the mystery behind Flight MH370, Malaysian students are proud of how they’re uniting during this time.

“Thankfully, Malaysians being Malaysians, we are all coming together,” said Danial Shafri, senior in geology from Malaysia. “It’s nice to see the Malaysian nature, people trying to calm everyone down.”

Koegelen echoed his thoughts.

“It’s human nature,” Kogelen said. “When someone is directly affected, they are always supported by those around them. It’s just a nice network in this unfortunate tragedy.”