Editor’s note: “Landlocked” is a discussion between two students from far outside Iowa.

Mo: When international students are told that twenty hours a week is all that they can have and that they are only allowed to work on campus, it usually is accepted with joy, almost something you would want to celebrate. Twenty hours a week is enough considering the fact that as an international student one needs to be a full-time student (12 credits for undergraduates and 9 credits for graduates.) Who would want to work more then twenty hours a week carrying a full course load?

Rishab: I would answer that question by saying “I would if I got a job that required brains and not manual labor.” The whole purpose of making a journey to a new country was to enhance my capabilities in everything I do and learn as much as I can like my peers – U.S. citizens – who end up in internships or jobs related to their majors , but the cause is lost as international students end up working in places where learning is limited or in some instances zero.

With the joy of knowing that one can be employed at Iowa State University as an international student comes the sorrow of accepting the fact that while there are multiple jobs available, jobs on campus which you are qualified for, you are only worthy of being hired by the Iowa State dining services, the phone foundation or custodial services. I am not saying that international students are not hired by other services or departments on this campus. What I am saying, however, is that the fraction of those hired in other areas is extremely low. But one might argue that American students outnumber international students; therefore, it seems as if they have jobs in nicer areas than I have previously stated or maybe international students just prefer to work at these places. American students can either work on campus or off campus . They are supposed to work limited number of hours on campus, just like international students (20 hours per week), but they can work as many hours as they like off campus if they decide to. Wouldn’t it be fair if American students took jobs off campus and allowed the few on-campus jobs to the internationals ? There are not that many jobs to go around on this campus.

America has always been known as the land of opportunities. It is the nation that has the most power in roughly all the matters of the world. Is it equal for all? Well, it is not easy to answer the above: As an international student you end up in jobs not because you want them but you have to take them as you are not given any choice. For the major proportion of the students from a country whose exchange rate is weak compared to the dollar, the only way to make up and meet the expenses is to work and work wherever you get an opportunity. An acquaintance of mine working with the international students services was in charge of hiring students. It was astonishing to hear that for just two positions there were more then 30 applications from international students on campus and the qualifications ranged from computer engineers to design majors, just proving the competition one has to go through to end up in a job where you might or might not be using your skills to the fullest.

Keeping that issue in mind, let me briefly raise the issue of the dining center. Iowa State dining services does have a very high percentage of employed international students. They work in the dish room, kitchen, on the line, and maybe once in a green sky, they are supervisors or lead workers. I wonder why that is? Should I call it discrimination? Is it that international students are not competent enough to make lead worker? Is it that international students are so incompetent they they can’t even make lead worker at dining services? Maybe if international students work a little harder, and kiss more butt someone will make lead worker, or at least get to change the milk in the milk machine. But till then, I suppose international students should be thankful to the dining services; after all, in my opinion, they have the highest percentage of international student employees

“Immigrants.” When you hear that word what comes to your mind? “People who have been kicked out of their country” or “who jumped the borders illegally” . Wrong !! Most international students are people who follow all the rules in this land of choices. How are you expected to chose when you don’t have options? After I have been accepted in a college and have met all the requirements and attained a visa, i.e. an invitation to come to this foreign land, and expand my horizons, why don’t I get rights which are equal to my peers?

I could go on and on about international students working only on Iowa State campus and having only twenty hours a week. Will that change anything? I doubt it. I can only hope and pray that when we come back twenty years from now there will be more international students be employed in services and departments where they can happily tell you about their work and achievements. There will come a time when there would be no more horror stories about the dish room and the alumni hanging up on you at the phone center.

Motun Fasehunis a senior in family and consumer sciences education from Ibadan, Nigeria.

Rishab Chandra is a junior in management information systems from New Delhi, India.