Through my time working in athletics, I have had the opportunity to meet and work with student athletes from all walks of life, both domestic and international athletes. Hearing their stories on how they worked towards the opportunities they have now within their respective sports stuck with me. However, it was the international student-athletes who truly resonated with me. How they heard about these opportunities within the United States, why they chose to pick up that particular sport, their struggles of transitioning to a new culture, and so on.

However, with a new administration taking office, there are fears and questions raised about what the future for these international student-athletes may look like. Their stories deserve to be heard, and they deserve to be humanized throughout these frightening times. 

 

Going about this topic, I had honed in on a small handful of international student-athletes and knew that their stories had the right to be heard. With each of these athletes having completely different perspectives on what it means to be an international student-athlete, their interviews offered a better understanding of what is needed to offer support and guidance through their transitions. I also knew I needed to gain a better understanding of these processes through professionals within college athletics, as well as visas. 

 

Once these interviews were completed and images were collected from respective institutions to portray these interviewees, I converted their portraits into cartoons through Meta AI on Google, demonstrating the idea that these student athletes are often seen more as characters than real people.