By MAKIYA SEMINERA
The primary time Patrick Thaw noticed his College of Michigan associates collectively since sophomore 12 months ended was bittersweet. They had been beginning a brand new semester in Ann Arbor, whereas he was FaceTiming in from Singapore, stranded half a world away.
At some point final June he was interviewing to resume his U.S. scholar visa, and the following his world was turned the other way up by President Donald Trump’s journey ban on individuals from 12 nations, together with Thaw’s native Myanmar.
“If I knew it was going to go down this badly, I wouldn’t have left the United States,” he mentioned of his resolution to go away Michigan for a summer season internship in Singapore.
The ban was certainly one of a number of methods the Trump administration made life tougher for worldwide college students throughout his first 12 months again within the White Home, together with a pause in visa appointments and extra layers of vetting that contributed to a dip in international enrollment for first-time college students. New college students needed to look elsewhere, however the hurdles made life significantly difficult for these like Thaw who had been nicely into their U.S. school careers.
Universities have needed to give you more and more versatile options, corresponding to bringing again pandemic-era distant studying preparations or providing admission to worldwide campuses they accomplice with, mentioned Sarah Spreitzer, assistant vice chairman of presidency relations on the American Council on Schooling.
In Thaw’s case, a Michigan administrator highlighted learning overseas as an possibility. So long as the journey ban was in place, a program in Australia appeared viable — not less than initially.
“Mentally, I’m back in Ann Arbor,” the 21-year-old mentioned. “But physically, I’m trapped in Singapore.”
He was at Michigan ‘to think and take risks’
When Thaw arrived in Ann Arbor in 2023, he threw himself into campus life. He instantly meshed along with his dorm roommate’s group of associates, who had gone to highschool collectively about an hour away. A neuroscience main, he additionally joined a biology fraternity and an Alzheimer’s analysis lab.
College students stroll across the College of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, Mich., Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photograph/Emily Elconin)
His curiosity pushed him to discover a variety of programs, together with a Jewish research class. The professor, Cara Rock-Singer, mentioned Thaw advised her his curiosity stemmed from studying the works of Philip Roth.
“I really work to make it a place where everyone feels not only comfortable, but invested in contributing,” Rock-Singer mentioned. “But Patrick did not need nudging. He was always there to think and take risks.”
When Thaw landed his scientific analysis internship at a Singapore medical college, it felt like simply one other step towards success.
He heard hypothesis that the Trump administration would possibly impose journey restrictions, nevertheless it was barely an afterthought — one thing he mentioned he even joked about with associates earlier than departing.
Then the journey ban was introduced.
The US supplied an escape and a high training
Thaw’s U.S. school dream had been a lifetime within the making however was undone — not less than for now — by one journey overseas. Caught in Singapore, he couldn’t sleep and his thoughts fixated on one query: “Why did you even come here?”
As a baby, Thaw set his sights on attending an American college. That need grew to become extra pressing as increased training alternatives dwindled after a civil struggle broke out in Myanmar.
For a time, tensions had been so excessive that Thaw and his mom took shifts watching to ensure the bamboo of their entrance yard didn’t erupt in flames from Molotov cocktails. As soon as, he was late for an algebra examination as a result of a bomb exploded in entrance of his home, he mentioned.
So when he was accepted to the College of Michigan after making use of to schools “around the clock,” Thaw was elated.
“The moment I landed in the United States, like, set foot, I was like, this is it,” Thaw mentioned. “This is where I begin my new life.”
Michigan Stadium on the College of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, Mich., Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photograph/Emily Elconin)
When Thaw talked about life in Myanmar, it usually led to deep conversations, mentioned Allison Voto, certainly one of his associates. He was one of many first individuals she met whose background was very completely different from hers, which made her “more understanding of the world,” she mentioned.
Throughout the 2024-25 college 12 months, the U.S. hosted almost 1.2 million worldwide college students. As of summer season 2024, greater than 1,400 individuals from Myanmar had American scholar visas, making it one of many top-represented nations amongst these hit by the journey ban.
A final-ditch effort to remain enrolled
A Michigan official mentioned the college acknowledges the challenges dealing with some worldwide college students and is dedicated to making sure they’ve all of the help and choices it will possibly present. The college declined to remark particularly on Thaw’s scenario.
Whereas the examine overseas program in Australia sparked some hope that Thaw might keep enrolled at Michigan, uncertainty across the journey ban and visa obstacles finally led him to resolve towards it.
He had left Myanmar to get an training and it was time to complete what he began, which meant shifting on.
“I cannot just wait for the travel ban to just end and get lifted and go back, because that’s going to be an indefinite amount of time,” he mentioned.
A flag blows within the wind atop the Michigan Union on the College of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, Mich., Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photograph/Emily Elconin)
He began making use of to schools outdoors the U.S., getting again acceptance letters from faculties in Australia and Canada. He’s holding out hope of attending the College of Toronto, which might put his associates in Ann Arbor only a four-hour drive from visiting him.
“If he comes anywhere near me, basically on the continent of North America, I’m going to go see him,” mentioned Voto, whose friendship with Thaw recently is outlined by daylong gaps of their textual content conversations. “I mean, he’s Patrick, you know? That’s absolutely worth it.”
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