The untold stories of students in foreign countries

It's all glory and glamour when family and friends celebrate the send-off party of their son/daughter, who is going to further his/ her studies in a nation far from home. Parents/ guardians invest a lot in their education, hoping that their effort and funds will bear consumable fruits one day.

Before the actual journey, advice from almost everyone is heard, and the student is always reminded of the struggles the parents/ guardians go through to give out the best. The student is always reminded to focus on studies, which is the core business, and stay in touch with God always. The best and worst side of the nation to be visited is always mentioned, and a student is meant to understand that choices have consequences.

Emotional goodbyes are seen in the airports when the student walks over the screener and disappears completely. Tears of joy are always seen flowing out from the eyes of the left family members who walk back home praying for journey mercies and a fruitful stay in a nation far away from home. "The minute you land there, make sure you inform us," that is mostly the last statement made before embarking on the journey to a new nation with new people and new cultural practices.

For the first-timers, the experience is always filled with mixed reactions, especially when flying thousands of feet above the sea level. Talk of connecting flights; it's always confusing when a first-timer is asked to walk to a particular gate where he/she will catch the next flight to the intended destination.

Done with the experience, the student lands in the new country, a new language is spoken and new faces all over. Protocols followed and boom! You are now a resident in a new country. Making new college friends, associating with the locals, and adapting to the new environment happens faster than imagined.

The new life away from home and relatives begins. This is now the biggest puzzle that most parents and guardians spend thousands on their students fail to complete mainly because of the long-distance that acts as a barrier. If only they knew that there are hidden stories, most of them would ask their children to go back home.

Those who know what took them to the foreign nations do what took them there. They work extra hard to ensure that they get the necessary knowledge and skills to help them become better people in life.

Most of them live their lives and don't go with the wave. They stick to God and are always contented by the little they have to hope that things will be better one day. They don't forget the struggles parents back home go through to accommodate and keep them in school. Such students graduate in different faculties, and after the end of their period, they go back home, making everyone proud of them.

Now we have the majority who go by the wave when they land in the foreign nations. Some quit school in their first year of study and indulge themselves in some funny activities. Most of them in this group do all they can to live expensive lives to impress other students and try to fit in certain groups that they don't belong to.

They indulge themselves in doing businesses that are mainly illegal. Young girls and boys ask for extra cash from their parents to maintain their unworthy profiles. Talk of immorality, you might think that it's Sodom and Gomora. Ladies go to the extent of selling their ovaries just because of money. Some jump from one man to another only because one man has more money than the other. Abortions are done with the help of their boyfriends like it's normal to kill. School to them is erased from their brains, and some use school fees in buying old model cars and sound systems.

Back home, parents know that their students are in school working hard, but the truth is, their sons and daughters run away from the police because of lacking legal documents. It's funny and sad at the same time, a parent back home having in mind that his son or daughter is pursuing a master's degree, but in the real sense, the student dropped out of school from the first semester of his undergraduate.

Luring parents with graduation pics and getting congratulatory messages on social media when they post pics in borrowed graduation gowns acts as their protection. I always feel sympathy for many parents who put it all for their children hoping that one day they will benefit from their efforts, but their children do the opposite of what is expected of them.

Parents/ guardians are not to blame for playing their part, but you who are doing all this think of your future. No matter how long you stay in that foreign nation doing what is not expected of you, know that back home, your parents skip meals because of you. Some don't even earn salaries due to the many borrowed loans; some sold their assets because of you. And there you are, acting as if you don't know where you come from.

Think! How will you feel when you become the reason for your parent's depressions? You will soon become a parent. Will you want your son or daughter to act the way you act in that foreign nation?