Written by Ruby Fitzer and translated by Iwan Thomas <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Disclaimer!! Some\nof the things mentioned in this article are sensitive subjects. There is\nmention of gun violence so please be aware of that when reading. Thank you. <\/p>
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As a lot of my\nfriends departed Aberystwyth for the Easter holiday, I stayed behind. Due to\nthe cost of travel, many international students like myself are not able to be\nwith family during breaks and holidays and as a result spend that time\nrelatively alone. On Easter Sunday I spent a few hours on Facetime with various\nfamily members and did my best to be a part of my family\u2019s day. After speaking\nto my parents in Kentucky, I made a second call to my grandparents four hours\nnorth in Ohio. We had our usual catchup and at what I thought would be the end\nof the call, my grandfather interrupted me with saddening news. He began to\ndescribe a shooting that had occurred a few days earlier in Isle of Palms,\nSouth Carolina, a place my family and I went to almost every summer in my\nchildhood. My grandfather said that he and my grandmother had been sitting\nwatching the news when their cabin in Isle of Palms showed up on TV, so he\ntuned in. My grandmother stopped him describing the event and said she wanted\nto end on a happy note, so we moved on to another topic, said our goodbyes, and\nhung up the phone. <\/p>
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The next day, April\n10, I was scrolling through Instagram stories when I saw a post from a friend\nfrom high school. There had been a shooting in Louisville, Kentucky, my\nhometown. I immediately went online to confirm that this was true and messaged\na few of my friends who still live there. The shooting was at a bank about ten\nminutes from my parents\u2019 house, five people were killed and eight others were\ninjured. As an American, I am no stranger to stories of gun violence and to the\ncollective trauma that my generation has experienced as a result of hundreds of\nschool shootings, active shooter drills, and the reality of living in a country\nthat values its guns over its children. I feel so thankful that I have been\ngiven the opportunity to move to another country and to live in a place where\ngun violence is not the norm. However, being so far from home and feeling so\nhelpless as my community is terrorized by yet another avoidable tragedy, I feel\nmore alone than ever.<\/p>
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My friends here in\nthe UK have offered me as much help as they possibly can, however, others have\nnot been so kind. Anywhere from the uni, to my job, to nights out, I have had\ncountless confrontations about where I\u2019m from, why I\u2019m here, and what my\nbeliefs are. Myself and most other students from other countries have to fend\noff strangers from asking us personal questions because they can hear or see\nthat we are not from here. They view our difference as an invitation to\ninitiate invasive and personal conversations often in uncomfortable public\nsettings. <\/p>
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Why is this the\nnorm then? International students are already experiencing feelings of\nisolation, loneliness, and homesickness. Invading their personal lives and\nquestioning their beliefs in inappropriate places only adds to these feelings.\nThese conversations can push students into feeling separate from their\ncommunities in university. After almost two years of trying to evade these\nconversations, I still don\u2019t know how to get past this feeling of being an\noutsider in my university, my job, and even in public spaces. When universities\nadvertise to international students they often focus on the idea of a \u2018home\naway from home\u2019 but that isn\u2019t always the reality. While I\u2019ve had\noverwhelmingly positive experiences here in Aberystwyth it’s hard to feel at\nhome when my being here is constantly questioned. Aberystwyth has a massive\npopulation of international students that continues to grow each year, so while\nit is important to celebrate our different backgrounds, it\u2019s also important for\nstudents to feel like they can live here without having their identities\nquestioned by the community that is supposed to welcome them. While in most\naspects, Aber has been very accepting and a genuinely wonderful place to live,\nI still struggle to feel like a part of the community when people invade my\nprivacy on a regular basis. I love Aberystwyth so much but sometimes I struggle\nto feel it loves me back.<\/p>
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If you found anything you have read over the course of the article distressing or overly emotional in any way then the wellbeing services are always available: <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n <\/span><\/font><\/p> English:<\/span> <\/span><\/span>https:\/\/aber.ac.uk\/en\/studentservices\/wellbeing\/wellbeing_resources\/#cruse-local-specialised-counselling-service<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p> Cymraeg:\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>https:\/\/aber.ac.uk\/cy\/studentservices\/wellbeing\/adnoddaulles\/<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p> \n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p> <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n Cymraeg<\/b><\/p>\n Cyfieithiad gan Iwan Thomas<\/span><\/span> <\/span> Ymwadiad<\/span>!! Mae <\/span>rhai<\/span> <\/span>o’r<\/span> <\/span>pethau<\/span> a <\/span>grybwyllir<\/span> <\/span>yn<\/span> <\/span>yr<\/span> <\/span>erthygl<\/span> hon <\/span>yn<\/span> <\/span>bynciau<\/span> <\/span>sensitif<\/span>. Mae <\/span>s\u00f4n<\/span> am <\/span>drais<\/span> <\/span>dr<\/span>yll<\/span> felly <\/span>byddwch<\/span> <\/span>yn<\/span> <\/span>ymwybodol<\/span> o <\/span>hynny<\/span> <\/span>wrth<\/span> <\/span>i<\/span> chi <\/span>ddarllen<\/span>. <\/span>Diolch<\/span>.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p><\/p> <\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p><\/p> Wrth i nifer o fy ffrindiau adael Aberystwyth am wyliau\u2019r Pasg, arhosais ar \u00f4l. Oherwydd cost teithio, nid yw llawer o fyfyrwyr rhyngwladol fel fi yn gallu bod gyda’u teulu yn ystod egwyliau a gwyliau ac o ganlyniad yn treulio’r amser hwnnw’n gymharol unig. Ar Sul y Pasg treuliais ychydig oriau ar <\/span>Facetime<\/span> gyda gwahanol aelodau o’r teulu a gwneud fy ngorau glas i fod yn rhan o ddiwrnod fy nheulu. Ar \u00f4l siarad \u00e2 fy rhieni yn <\/span>Kentucky<\/span>, gwnes ail alwad i fy nain a nain bedair awr i’r gogledd yn Ohio.<\/span> Cawsom sgwrs gyda’n gilydd yn \u00f4l yr arfer ac ar yr hyn roeddwn i’n meddwl fyddai diwedd yr alwad, darfu i fy nhad-cu newyddion trist. Dechreuodd ddisgrifio saethu a oedd wedi digwydd ychydig ddyddiau ynghynt yn <\/span>Isle<\/span> of <\/span>Palms<\/span>, South <\/span>Carolina<\/span>, lle bu fy nheulu a minnau yn mynd bron bob haf yn fy mhlentyndod. Dywedodd fy nhaid ei fod ef a fy nain wedi bod yn eistedd yn gwylio’r newyddion pan ymddangosodd eu caban yn <\/span>Isle<\/span> of <\/span>Palms<\/span> ar y teledu, felly fe diwniodd. Stopiodd fy nain ef gan ddisgrifio’r digwyddiad a dywedodd ei bod am orffen ar nodyn hapus, felly symudasom ymlaen at bwnc arall, ffarwelio \u00e2 ni, a hongian i fyny.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n <\/span><\/p><\/p> Y diwrnod wedyn, Ebrill 10, roeddwn i’n sgrolio trwy <\/span>Instagram<\/span> pan welais bost gan ffrind o’r ysgol uwchradd. Cafodd ei saethu yn <\/span>Louisville<\/span>, <\/span>Kentucky<\/span>, fy nhref enedigol. Es i ar-lein ar unwaith i gadarnhau bod hyn yn wir a anfonais neges at rai o fy ffrindiau sy’n dal i fyw yno. Roedd y saethu mewn banc tua deg munud o d\u0177 fy rhieni, lladdwyd pump o bobl ac anafwyd wyth arall. Fel Americanwr, nid wyf yn ddieithr i straeon am drais gwn ac i’r trawma cyfunol y mae fy nghenhedlaeth wedi’i brofi o ganlyniad i gannoedd o saethiadau ysgol, hyfforddiant saethwyr gweithredol, a realiti byw mewn gwlad sy’n gwerthfawrogi ei gynnau drosodd ei blant. Rwy\u2019n teimlo mor ddiolchgar fy mod wedi cael y cyfle i symud i wlad arall ac i fyw mewn man lle nad yw trais gwn yn arferol. Fodd bynnag, gan fy mod mor bell o gartref a theimlo mor ddiymadferth fel bod fy nghymuned yn cael ei dychryn gan drasiedi arall y gellir ei hosgoi, rwy\u2019n teimlo\u2019n fwy unig nag erioed.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n <\/span><\/p><\/p> Mae fy ffrindiau yma yn y DU wedi cynnig cymaint o help ag y <\/span>gallant<\/span> i mi, fodd bynnag, nid yw eraill wedi bod mor garedig. Unrhyw le o’r Brifysgol, i fy swydd, i nosweithiau allan, rydw i wedi cael gwrthdaro di-ri yngl\u0177n \u00e2 lle rydw i’n dod, pam rydw i yma, a beth yw fy nghredoau. Mae’n rhaid i mi a’r rhan fwyaf o fyfyrwyr eraill o wledydd eraill fod yn ofalus rhag dieithriaid yn gofyn cwestiynau personol i ni oherwydd <\/span>gallant<\/span> glywed neu weld nad ydym o’r fan hon. Maent yn gweld ein gwahaniaeth fel gwahoddiad i ddechrau sgyrsiau ymledol a phersonol yn aml mewn lleoliadau cyhoeddus anghyfforddus.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n <\/span><\/p><\/p> Pam mai dyma’r norm felly? Mae myfyrwyr rhyngwladol eisoes yn profi teimladau o unigrwydd, unigedd a hiraeth. Dim ond ychwanegu at y teimladau hyn y mae goresgyn eu bywydau personol a chwestiynu eu credoau mewn mannau amhriodol. Gall y sgyrsiau hyn wthio myfyrwyr i deimlo ar wah\u00e2n i’w cymunedau prifysgol. Ar \u00f4l bron i ddwy flynedd o geisio osgoi’r sgyrsiau hyn, dwi dal ddim yn gwybod sut i fynd <\/span>heibio’r<\/span> teimlad hwn o fod yn rhywun o’r tu allan yn fy mhrifysgol, fy swydd, a hyd yn oed mewn mannau cyhoeddus.<\/span> Pan fydd prifysgolion yn hysbysebu i fyfyrwyr rhyngwladol maent yn aml yn canolbwyntio ar y syniad o \u2018gartref oddi cartref\u2019 ond nid dyna\u2019r realiti bob amser. Er fy mod wedi cael profiadau hynod gadarnhaol yma yn Aberystwyth mae\u2019n anodd teimlo\u2019n gartrefol pan mae fy mod i yma yn cael ei gwestiynu\u2019n gyson. Mae gan Aberystwyth boblogaeth enfawr o fyfyrwyr rhyngwladol sy\u2019n parhau i dyfu bob blwyddyn, felly tra ei bod yn bwysig dathlu ein gwahanol gefndiroedd, mae hefyd yn bwysig i fyfyrwyr deimlo y <\/span>gallant<\/span> fyw yma heb i\u2019r gymuned gwestiynu eu hunaniaeth pan fyddant i fod i\u2019w croesawu. Er bod Aber yn gyffredinol wedi bod yn dderbyniol iawn ac yn lle gwych i fyw, rwy’n dal i gael trafferth teimlo’n rhan o’r gymuned pan fydd pobl yn ymosod ar fy mhreifatrwydd yn rheolaidd. Dwi’n caru Aberystwyth gymaint ond weithiau dwi’n cael trafferth teimlo ei fod yn fy ngharu i n\u00f4l.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n Os oedd unrhyw beth rydych chi wedi\u2019i ddarllen yn ystod yr erthygl yn\nperi gofid i chi neu\u2019n or-emosiynol mewn unrhyw ffordd, yna mae\u2019r gwasanaethau\nllesiant bob amser ar gael:<\/span><\/p>\n
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