“It’s hard not to get numb,” my provost replied to my most recent email explaining my slower than usual response to her query.  This was in reference to the most recent and aggressive policy guidance from the Dept of Homeland Security (DHS) proposing additional restrictions and limitations on international students studying at US universities. My numbness stemmed from an earlier policy guidance announced in July that was so egregious 17 state Attorneys General and over 30 US universities successfully sued the federal government to stop implementation of the new policy. 

The level of stress that the events of 2020 placed on all professions is, of course, unprecedented; to use an already overused, but highly apt descriptor.  But within the Global Education community, 2020 feels unrelenting in the number of disruptions and crisis issues. It will be a long time before we can look back on the pandemic evacuations of our study abroad students, the repatriation of our exchange students to their home countries, the confusion of a sudden switch to remote learning, the federal witch hunt on scholars and students from China and other countries deemed a threat to US security, the sudden and catastrophic drop in student enrollment, the impact on the Black Lives Matter movement for social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion at the university and, of course, the capricious, politically motivated, and down-right mean spirited guidances from DHS.  

According to webMD, the physical numbing of the nerves is the body responding to damage, irritation or extreme compression. Emotional numbness by contrast, is tied to acute nervousness, stress, and anxiety. Global education professionals have endured over seven months of anxiety and distress as we advocate for our student populations and hustle to maintain relevance on campus; all while working from home, isolated from colleagues and students. 

How do we, as global educators, in US universities, find the resolve to keep going? Every single aspect of our profession has changed for the worse and is in peril of never returning to its previous state.  Programs are closed, lay-offs are imminent, and enrollments are dismal.  How can we rise from the depths of the latest previously unfathomable thing? 

One possible resolution may lie in our training as intercultural specialists.  Perhaps approaching the current environment in the same way we would engage with a new and unfamiliar culture will allow us to leverage our professional skills to cope better.  One component of our campus pre-departure briefing for education abroad introduces students to the acronym, A.S.K., to help them remember strategies to combat cultural shock:  

• “A” = Acknowledge the emotional reaction to an unfamiliar/uncomfortable situation
• “S” = Seek out information or help in resolving issues stemming from discomfort
• “K” = Keep things in perspective by taking one day at a time; knowing that each day you
          are adjusting in some small way to your new normal 

Numbness is a natural reaction to extreme stress, but we are lucky to be in a profession that has provided us the skills and expertise to push through the discomfort of this new landscape.