This article won an honorable mention in the 2023 Michigan Interscholastic Press Association spring awards ceremony.
Heads all over the world have turned toward the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Although tensions between the countries have been rising for years, on the 24th of February, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia couldn’t be “safe, develop and exist” with a perceived threat from Ukraine. He called for “demilitarization and denazification” of their government in a TV address, minutes before Russian troops and missiles were reported in Ukraine.
For senior Ukraine exchange student Tetiana Trach, the situation hits close to home.
Trach has family living in Ukraine, with her mother and brother living on the western side of the country, where Trach says it’s arguably “safer.” Regardless, airstrikes are a real concern.
“There are bombings, and they already destroyed a lot of airports and buildings like houses and hospitals and schools,” Trach said. “My dad decided to take my mom and brother to Germany, [but] there are a lot of people on the Ukrainian-Polish border right now, so she was there for a couple of days.”
With her father away for work in Germany and bringing the rest of her family there, Trach is able to rest a little easier knowing her family can safely communicate with her. However, her biggest fear is for the future.
Despite the positive effects immigration can bring to the economy of a country, many specialists, including George Borjas, a professor of economics and social policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, have researched how immigration can also lower wages and increase unemployment.
Trach expressed worry over how countries will act once the crisis is over regarding the new Ukrainian refugees.
“I’m afraid that all the refugees who moved out of Ukraine to different countries will be sent back. Nearly one million Ukrainians moved out to different countries,” Trach said. “They may send all these people back, and it will be chaotic. People will come back and their homes are destroyed.”
Trach notices that although most students are aware and familiar with the situation in her home country, most lack awareness of the effects of war.
Already, student drivers and staff see the increase of gas prices, a ripple effect caused by Russia providing the United States with 7% of the US’s total oil supply. The situation may even worsen, with speculation gas prices could rise above five dollars a gallon before the conflict ends.
Trach wants people to view this as an opportunity to learn more about the current news happening. She wants people to be more aware for future crises.
“I wish Americans paid more attention to what’s going on. I think a lot of people think [international] problems [are] not really related to them because it’s far,” Trach said. “It affects the whole world because it’s just impossible to stay out of [it].
