According to National Geographic, rice is a food staple for more than three billion people worldwide. It has been cultivated in Asia for thousands of years, but many are still divided about its benefits, with some claiming that it is a “” that causes weight gain.

This versatile and affordable grain, however, can be a��. Carbohydrates contain��, an important source of energy for the body. Unprocessed rice is also ��– which is good news for those with celiac disease. It is important to note that there are more than 40,000 varieties of rice available, and each type has its own pros and cons.��

Even white rice has its perks – it is high in����(also known as vitamin B-9), the vitamin that aids red blood cell formation and healthy cell growth and function. Wholegrain rice, however, is considered a�����DZ�پ��Dz�.

In general, wholegrains can����by promoting good blood flow to the organ system, especially the brain. But should wholegrain rice be considered good brain food? Here’s what we know:��

This zero-cholesterol wholegrain is as nutritious as it is delicious. Source: Shutterstock.

Is rice good brain food? Here’s what science says

Brown rice

Brown rice may help with��, has����and can reduce one’s overall risk of neurodegenerative disorders. But here’s what people don’t know about consuming brown rice: it can improve cognitive performance. A����in 2016 found that germinated brown rice protects the brain from oxidative stress, which is beneficial for those at risk of contracting diseases like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s.

The lesser-known cousin of the wholegrain family – red rice. Source: Shutterstock.

Red rice

The red pigment found in red rice is actually because of its����content, a compound that exhibits strong antioxidant activity.����— molecules that fight free radicals in your body — help prevent diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer.

If you’re wondering whether the colour red benefits the blood in your body in any way, you are right: red rice is��, and consuming it daily can help in absorption of oxygen. Just a small cup of red rice can already fulfil three percent of your daily iron requirement, doing wonders for people who suffer from anaemia. Healthy blood flow translates to better oxygen flow, improved breathing, and brain functioning.

Black rice is packed with antioxidants, making it effective in combating diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Source: Shutterstock.

Black rice��

Commonly known as “forbidden rice”, black rice also has high anthocyanin content. This potent antioxidant is the same phytonutrient responsible for giving blueberries — another example of a brain food — their deep blue hue.����notes that black rice has a higher anthocyanin content than black and blue berries, making it more effective in combating oxidative stress in the hippocampus – the part of the brain that is under attack most with diseases like Alzheimer’s.��

Found in northern Minnesota, real wild rice is harvested by hand and dried over fire. Source: Shutterstock.

Wild rice

Arguably the����weight watcher, wild rice is also known to promote��. Filled with a number of B vitamins, wild rice helps increase metabolic function (how cells obtain energy) the way white rice does. Since the area that demands the most energy is the human brain, maintaining proper levels helps the brain function at maximum capacity.��

Whether you’re preparing for an exam or looking for good brain foods to add to your diet, give one of these wholegrain rice options a try.��

Its unique mission is to fuse engineering skills with training in the analysis of complex systems for food, agriculture, energy, and the environment. The innovative combination has cemented the department’s stellar reputation as one of the US’s finest. Having just celebrated its last year, it is also one of the country’s most historic.��

The ABE’s small size further adds to its appeal, ensuring every learner from near or far is guaranteed a personalised, engaging, and collaborative journey to the forefront of spearheading a healthier, more abundant world. “We are the second smallest engineering major on campus which allowed me to experience a small community within a big college, which is very unique for engineering students at Illinois,” confirms ABE senior Fina Healy.��

The journey begins with an underlying drive to achieve interdisciplinary excellence. Daniela Markazi sought to merge her passions for robotics, engineering and computer science with her natural knack for biology, environmental science and sustainability. ABE’s was designed for such curiosity.��

It answers burning questions by providing boundless opportunities for high-impact learning experiences such as hands-on research with the Integrated Bioprocessing Research Laboratory or the Illinois Autonomous Farm; design competitions; entrepreneurial activities; study abroad excursions; and much more. As many as 91% of students reported undergoing an internship or co-op during their degree programme.��

Four out of five ABE students work, volunteer, or take on internships. Source: ����vlog���� of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Markazi did too — but that’s not all. Apart from serving as president of the Student Chapter of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers; she studied abroad thrice, helping out with the Hurricane Maria disaster relief and resilience initiatives in Puerto Rico; she designed and created a robot called “The Agrobot,” based on real-life agricultural robots; and she developed and taught her very own computer science class — all while an undergraduate.��

An extensive, illustrious CV made it all the easier for her to land her role as a robotics engineer at intelligent machinery firm John Deere. However, she didn’t let her career stop her from advancing her newfound skills at the university she knows and loves. Today, Markazi is back at her alma mater, en route to doctoral success with a PhD in Informatics.��

“Right now, as a PhD student, I can still see how ABE has positively impacted my life!” she enthuses. “I am proud to be a part of this university, and I’m especially proud to be an ABE graduate.”

Dr. Jamison Watson’s academic background made him a better fit for the — an option he knew would perfectly complement his “ever-changing” research interests. Even before completing the qualification, Watson began setting his sights on a .��

The plan proved fruitful. Whilst a doctoral student working in the research lab of Professor Yuanhui Zhang to explore turning biomass into fuel, he received a Schmidt Science Fellowship. The prestigious fellowship has allowed him to work at MIT as a postdoctoral fellow, conducting research using microbial electrolysis cells to convert toxic compounds in wastewater into more benign substances — an outcome he believes wouldn’t have been possible without the PhD degree in ABE from Illinois.

“Through the ABE MS and PhD programmes, I developed a holistic and comprehensive skill set that combined theory and practice,” he says. “Overall, they provided me with an unprecedented level of scientific rigour, intellectual curiosity, and personal freedom, which were instrumental to finding a job upon graduation.”��

ABE prepares you to contribute to the technological advances that better society through sustainable food and energy. Source: ����vlog���� of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Those focused on employability might prefer looking into the ABE’s . The business-integrated programme was designed to prepare learners for lucrative careers in the bioenergy life cycle — from feedstock supply to biofuel transportation and distribution.��

Meanwhile, the programme merges technology with management in a systematic approach. It prepares students for technical and leadership careers in managing agricultural and biological systems.��

While all are fulfilling pathways to a PhD in ABE, those without graduate qualifications aren’t out of luck. At this dynamic department, doctoral excellence is an option for outstanding BS graduates as well. The best part? They will be guaranteed a funded appointment which includes a full tuition waiver, a partial fee waiver, and a stipend in their first five years of enrolment.��

To discover the role you can play in bettering society through sustainable food and energy, about the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering.��

Follow the ����vlog���� of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on , , , and , and the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering on and

Dr. Timothy Richards is a professor in the at W. P. Carey School of Business at . He has studied the pandemic’s , overall food supply chains, the loss of food service channels, the long-term implications of the market becoming more digital, among other topical issues. And what did he find? That regardless of the world’s steady return to normalcy, the need for a more robust agribusiness system will remain.

Agribusiness professionals are at the forefront of developing and implementing better industry practices. Currently, the field accounts for over 50% of the global economy, employing 25% of Americans that bring food from the farm to the global table. The food industry itself employs one in six people across the country.

On a global scale, agribusiness is an industry with growing opportunities. The World Bank that population growth, changing appetites, and rising food demand are fueling growth in the food and agriculture sector.

The Morrison School of Agribusiness at ASU — where Professor Richards educates — has made it its mission to prepare students to launch exciting careers in one of the most essential sectors of the global economy.

Their undergraduate programmes feature experiential learning and a core business curriculum. This helps students with a genuine interest in the food industry to succeed in any food-related job or enterprise.

While there are opportunities in the food sector, higher education can provide immediate value to students looking to carve themselves successful careers in the field. “So many people in the food industry ,” says Professor Mark Manfredo of the Morrison School of Agribusiness. “They start out young and work either in a food retail, restaurant or food service establishment.”

Upon progressing into management positions in these establishments, however, it becomes challenging to grow without the right qualification that will equip them with knowledge and skills needed to excel in their jobs and take their careers to the next level.

The BA Food Industry Management programme’s online option makes it possible for students to learn independently and at their own pace. Source: Arizona State ����vlog����

programme was designed to improve students’ chances of success. It enables students to gain the skills and experience needed to pursue a career in purchasing and procurement, food supply chain management, wholesale and distribution, logistics, commodity trading and export, and food marketing.

This is done by exposing students to a wide range of comprehensive courses, including Commodity Futures and Options Markets, Food Advertising and Promotion, Food Product Innovation and Development, Food Retailing, Food Supply Networks, Fundamentals of Finance, Global Supply Operations, International Management and Agribusiness, Introduction to Agribusiness, Marketing and Business Performance, Organisation and Management Leadership, and Strategic Pricing in Food Markets.

In speaking about the programme, Associate Professor Renee Hughner explains that Agribusiness provides students with a competitive advantage. “Our students graduate with strong knowledge of business fundamentals – they take their core business classes in marketing, management, economics, finance, and accounting and build on those foundations in the context of food.”

“The perishability of food presents new challenges regarding supply chain logistics; the unpredictability of weather affects commodity prices and goods sold; labor shortages in the industry provide unique management��challenges; and produce and fresh foods��present opportunities to transform commodities��into trusted brands.��These are just a few of the types of issues agribusiness students are prepared to face.” She adds.

The programme’s online option makes it possible for students to learn independently and at their own pace. Every student benefits from gaining access to the same resources. They receive expert guidance from the same faculty members conducting classes and supporting students on-campus.

“We’re very passionate about the food industry,” says Professor Manfredo. “All of us have chosen our path of research because we truly have a genuine interest in the food industry. I think that’s really a benefit for the student that’s going to be taking our courses.”

Learning from faculty who have their finger on the pulse in the food industry has benefited the School’s students, including BA Food Industry Management alumni Shannon Anderson. His newfound knowledge and skills helped him land the role of private label manager for Sprouts Farmer Market. Today, he is a VP for Sales and Marketing at Ice Box Foods.

He credits his success to his ASU degree, which taught him the four P’s of marketing: product, price, placement, and promotion.

“I select the product, I work on pricing strategies, I work on placement — how to get the product to the consumer in the best possible way — and I work on promotional planning,” he shares. “That’s basically, in a nutshell, what my job is; and I learned all of that on the first day at ASU — and it’s something I’m gonna use for the rest of my life.”

Follow Arizona State ����vlog���� on , , and

Feedback is centred on giving information about actual performance against set requirements. Good feedback enables people to learn from both successes and weaknesses in performance.��Focusing only on people’s shortcomings does not help learning, but hinders it. Bad feedback can be c.

An earlier review found one feedback intervention out of every three actually decreased performance. Postgraduate students’ experiences of feedback from research supervisors mirror employees’ experiences of feedback from managers.

Our analysis of the past decade of academic literature on feedback to postgraduate research students confirms the problem is widespread.��And large numbers of people are affected. Australia has more than 66,500 higher degree research students. In the US, 55,703 doctorates were awarded in 2019.

Poor feedback to such students leads to a negative experience. But there is not one feedback strategy that works positively for all situations.

Effective feedback is built on a relationship of trust, with the supervisor often likened to a ‘critical friend’.

Effective research supervisor feedback is essential, but there needs to be a relationship of trust, with the supervisor often likened to a ‘critical friend’. Source: Shutterstock

Research supervisor feedback: What are the common problems?

Our study found the problems in giving and receiving feedback related to content, process, people and expectations.

Low-quality feedback with inadequate information or vague content from managers does not lead to better work performance. Equally, managers and supervisors need to find a good balance between overwhelming their supervisees with too much feedback and not providing enough or infrequent and delayed feedback.

Feedback does not stand alone – it is part of the broader relationship between supervisor and supervisee. A lack of trust is harmful for the giving and receiving of feedback.

Feedback is a two-way process between the giver and receiver – both parties contribute to the experience. Some individuals actively seek feedback. Others try to avoid it at all costs.

Not all feedback receivers are willing to take feedback on board. On the other hand, many feedback givers lack appropriate feedback skills or awareness of their own style of feedback, including its timing and tone. Often, feedback is less than effective because of a mismatch of expectations between givers and receivers.

Source: Chugh et al, Supervisory feedback to postgraduate research students: a literature review (2021). Image: Shutterstock, Author provided

The need for a ‘critical friend’

Providing effective research supervisor feedback is essential to improve learning and performance. Managers and research supervisors continually give and receive feedback. But, before giving feedback, supervisors should manage expectations and negotiate supervision arrangements. These include how often and when to give feedback, as well as the length and depth of feedback content.

In all organisations, supervisors should aim for a positive supervisory relationship. Such relationships are based on trust, respect, open communication and shared meaning.

Supervisors’ style of feedback often parallels their own experiences, whether it was helpful or not. As feedback can often be misunderstood, supervisors should critically reflect on their feedback style so it becomes a satisfying two-way process.

Constructive regular feedback should highlight both strengths and weaknesses. It should also suggest improvements. Fifty-seven percent of employees prefer to hear corrective feedback that provides suggestions for improvement and points out things that weren’t done optimally.

So, supervisors can assume the role of a “critical friend” who is encouraging and supportive but provides candid feedback on performance.

Using technologies such as videoconferencing, messaging, social media and email can help in providing timely feedback.

Our review sums up the research findings on the characteristics of effective feedback as:

“suggestive and constructive, brief, frequent and regular, actionable, specific and tailored, explicit, honest but empathetic and tactful, formal, supportive and encouraging, advising, appreciative and respectful but critical”.

Source: Chugh et al, Supervisory feedback to postgraduate research students: a literature review (2021). Image: Shutterstock, Author provided

A 3-way process of improving feedback

Improving the feedback environment can lead to benefits that include higher work satisfaction. For example, in higher education, the triad of institutions, supervisors and students/supervisees can all help improve feedback processes. The same is true of the triad of the organisation, supervisors/managers and employees in other workplaces. Each has a role to play in making feedback effective.

Institutions and organisations can provide administrative, technical and financial support to supervisors. Training, mentoring and personal development opportunities can help both supervisors and supervisees succeed.

Supervisors need to engage in professional development, regularly communicate with their supervisees, be culturally sensitive and use a blend of the previously outlined feedback strategies.

Supervisees should develop reflective skills and engage critically with feedback as integral to their learning and improvement.

No ‘one size fits all’, but key principles apply

Every supervisory relationship is different. However, developing a constructive feedback culture is critical. In the supervisor-supervisee relationship, lessons need to be learnt from problems in the process, and a mix of positive feedback strategies can be adopted.

As our study shows, there is no “one size fits all” approach to providing feedback. Ultimately, supervisors and managers should ensure feedback is supervisee-centred, focuses on improvements and is actionable.

By , Senior Lecturer – Information Systems and Analysis, CQ����vlog���� Australia; Bobby Harreveld, Professor and Director, Centre for Research in Equity, Advancement of Teaching & Education (CREATE), CQ����vlog���� Australia, and , Senior Lecturer in Strategic Management, CQ����vlog���� Australia

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

“Finding food here is hard — prices are higher compared to India,” said Jay Patel, an Indian student among those waiting outside the Newham Community Project, a local charity handing out the foodstuffs. The 19-year-old, who is studying at the ����vlog���� of Greenwich in southeast London, said he has been unable to get a part-time job during the health crisis and could not ask his family back in India for money.

The food bank, which conducts the handouts three nights a week, has become a lifeline for Patel and other foreign students facing a similar plight.��“I actually arrived at the wrong time,” he added of coming to the UK. “It’s a very difficult situation. Without this support, I guess we would have to start starving.”

Britain — which is among the hardest hit countries in Europe from the coronavirus, registering nearly 120,000 deaths and severe economic fallout — is a popular destination for foreign students. Repeated lockdowns across the country, requiring all hospitality venues and non-essential retail shops to close, have led to millions losing their jobs.��Students, who often work in low-pay roles in restaurants, bars and stores, have struggled in particular.

Food poverty affects a large number of foreign students

Foreign students come to the UK for a quality education but find themselves struggling amid the pandemic instead. Source: Justin Tallis/AFP

Despite frigid temperatures and driving rain, the line outside the Newham Community Project remained long throughout the evening until the doors closed at 11.00 p.m.. Volunteers have become familiar with some of the regulars, who have been visiting the food bank every week for more than six months. Inside, they busily pack bags with the packets of rice and other essentials, including ingredients to make vegetarian or halal meals.

The grassroots organisation, first formed in 2008 to help the neediest in Newham — one of the more deprived areas of the British capital — began its food distribution efforts during the first lockdown last April, when Ramadan began. “We started with about 20 food packs a day but slowly, within a couple of weeks, we were getting 800 students,” said manager Elyas Ismail. “We saw the need was enormous, so we’ve just decided to carry on. And the numbers have just been basically increasing every week.”

Ismail estimated he now helps around 2,000 households weekly — including some groups of up to 15 students crowded into single flats, given London’s high rental costs. The majority of foreign students in Britain are non-European, with more than 400,000 coming in 2020, mostly from China and India, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

At the Newham food bank, almost all are from India. Ismail noted they are typically from poor families. Often their parents sold jewellery and other possessions of value to fund their children’s relocation to the UK.��Volunteer Aamena Ismail, 21, added that their student visas do not allow them to access any government support. “It’s honestly heartbreaking, they come in hoping for a better life,” she said. “The UK government needs to take into account that this policy is just unfair.”

Some foreign students are struggling to survive

Alpef Shaik, 23, is one such student who came to Britain to fulfil the dream of his uneducated parents that he for himself. Six months after his arrival to complete a master’s course at the ����vlog���� of East London, the pandemic hit and resulting lockdowns began.

“Things changed very much and it got worse, worse, worse,” he told AFP, noting it scuppered his studies and part-time job. Shaik said the costs of living and studying in the UK were now “not worth it”. “I’m paying for a Rolls-Royce and I’m getting an old normal Toyota car,” he added.

Mohammed Ahmed, 25, came to London to support his wife, who is studying at the private BPP ����vlog����, but now also fears their future is in jeopardy. “Due to this pandemic situation, we can’t fulfil our expectations,” he said. “If the situation continues like this, I’ll need to go back to my country, because we can’t survive.”

“K-State has a good sorghum genetics and genomics program,” says Jacques Faye, a 29-year-old international student at K-State, originally from Senegal. “It is well-known around the world because of its involvement in international research development…My research will definitely contribute to food security in developing countries,” he concludes, “particularly in West Africa.”

Home to four , K-State is an academic pioneer of sustainable progression. This ground-breaking, government-funded initiative tackles global hunger and food security issues, targeting 19 low-income countries in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, while striving to accelerate:

• inclusive agricultural growth,
• improved nutrition,
• gender integration,
• private sector engagement,
• research and capacity building, and
• climate-smart development.

“With the advance in science and technologies, I have everything I need to succeed in my PhD program and my research for improving crop adaptation,” says Fanna Maina, a 31-year old PhD student from Niger, currently studying Agronomy at K-State. “My country has experienced a severe food crisis,” she adds. “Through new developments in science, we can develop climate-resilient and preferred varieties to ensure food security…I hope to support breeding efforts through my research by providing them tools for future agriculture.”

These reputable Innovation Labs have been granted in line with K-State’s commitment to securing global food resources. (SMIL) centers on Ethiopia, Senegal and Niger, striving to boost the adaptation and resilience of sorghum and pearl millet in West and East Africa, also expanding market demand and product-development opportunities.

The is directed at India and Pakistan, working to implement heat-tolerant, high-yielding and farmer-accepted wheat varieties that make use of local cultivars and breeding networks.

The , tackles accessibility to safe and nutritious foods in nations like Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana and Guatemala. The target is decreasing losses in stored product crops to further increase the consumption rates of food already in the production system, thus reducing food insecurity and hunger.

Finally, the will produce measurable results in reducing world hunger, poverty and improving the nutrition of smallholder farmers. Focusing on Ethiopia, Tanzania, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Bangladesh and Cambodia, the SIIL bolsters agricultural productivity and income, set on improving integrated farming systems for these impoverished regions.

Activities center on four key areas: to sustainably boost the production of nutritious food and encourage dietary diversity; to bolster the involvement and empowerment of women in agricultural production and processing; to increase food production through improved crop-production technologies; and to prevent food waste while food safety.

Each one of these labs serves to blend K-State’s expertise with those of fellow universities, the and other public/private organizations, creating a base of knowledge that has the potential to instigate universal change.

“With four Feed the Future Innovation Labs now hosted by…K-State Research and Extension, USAID is making a nearly $100 million investment in Kansas State ����vlog����’s ability to provide leadership to the global food systems research, teaching and extension efforts,” John Floros, Dean of the College.

But K-State’s greatest assets and drivers of change are indeed its students. In fact, a number of talented scholars have been recruited from their home countries to pursue world-class PhD study at K-State, the aim being to eventually lead them back to their home countries where they can implement what they have learned. Ralph Armah, a 31-year old PhD student of aspires to do just that. Originally from Ghana, Ralph aims to take his skills back home when he graduates in 2019, improving the food crisis for his local community, and the world at large.

“This PhD program presents unique opportunities for students to both interact and collaborate with faculty on many fronts to ensure their personal and academic development,” Ralph explains. “Upon completion of the program,” he adds, “I hope to be on the ultimate cutting-edge with regards to solving food and agriculture-related problems. I look forward to applying the skills I acquire to conduct meaningful and impactful economic, as well as interdisciplinary, research.

“Widely-reported issues of food loss and waste in many parts of the world – especially sub-Saharan Africa – is worth addressing,” the student concludes. “Therefore, obtaining a PhD in Agricultural Economics will prepare me to better appreciate and understand the core issues of the discipline with more depth, and to further propose tested logical solutions to the global food crisis issue.”

Follow KSU on��,��,��,��,����and��

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Cindy* remembers the time she cried every day without knowing why. She was reading law in her final year at , after completing the first two years in Malaysia. Despite some boy troubles, she was surrounded by a sea of people. Many of them were supportive friends. Her Instagram feed showed a good-looking 21-year-old girl happily celebrating birthdays and traveling the UK.

“When I was undergoing depression, I honestly didn’t know why I was depressed. Every day I woke up feeling shitty, I couldn’t sleep, I became anxious, I cried every single day not knowing why. Honestly, I thought there was something wrong with me physically.”

Cindy was battling depression then. As described by the World Health Organisation (WHO), it includes “sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, feelings of tiredness, and poor concentration.” Alongside anxiety, it is an increasingly serious problem at university��campuses.

Just over a month ago, three first-year students from the ��were within weeks of the start of term. The coroner’s results are yet to be completed, but online tribute pages for two of the three students are saying the deaths were possibly due to suicide, driven by untreated mental illness.

Bristol ����vlog���� students’ union’s student living officer, Stephen LeFanu, stated that the new students could have felt it was “extremely difficult” starting university. “Many people will also experience complex mental health difficulties, regardless of their environment,” he told The Guardian.

Their deaths came less than a year after the found that eight out of 10 students (78 percent) experienced mental health issues during their studies. Students may have a lower suicide rate, but they have since 2007. 33 percent of the students surveyed had had suicidal thoughts. The Guardian is calling this a “campus crisis in mental health”.

Not exactly “a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community” i.e. WHO’s definition of mental health well-being.

A feature of this unfortunate state of affairs is its rather democratic nature. It cuts across the usual race, gender, ethnicity, financial et al. barriers. This means that local students’ mental health aren’t the only ones affected. International students are struggling too, and even more so without the .

People usually experience their ��– a psychological term to describe ��a “loss of contact with reality”, e.g. anxiety and depression –��when they are 17 years old. Around this time, teenagers are also asked to make one of the biggest decisions thus far in their life – university. Your entire future rests on this decision.

And for many varied reasons, some teenagers are asked to uproot their lives and move to a foreign country to earn that degree.

A stressful life event alone isn’t usually the cause of��depression or other mental illnesses. Mental disorders are usually caused by a combination of biological, genetic, psychological, and environmental factors. But an adverse life event, like the transition into university, can trigger a depressive episode in those with pre-existing conditions. ��

The transition from high school to college is a big move. The student loses their home, school, and friends for the past 17 years, which are��basically their entire world.

For international students, the loss is bigger. According to ‘ Stressed Out and Struggling (SOS) Project����on international students’ mental health, “They may experience a sense of loss, in the wider sense – of native language, customs, security, of the sense of self even – due to being in a foreign culture.”

This initial sense of loss, if not overcome or left��untreated, can build into pressure that persists. An ��into the mental well-being of Malaysian and Chinese students at the found that among those experiencing depression and anxiety, the causes were mainly due to the “cultural transition, pressure from academic work, high expectations of family or parents were identified as main causes of students‘ mental health problems.”

Too many expectations, too little connection

Along with this loss, comes a unique set of expectations in today’s set of international students who grew up in a significantly globalised world and the omnipresent Internet. On a more personal level, they are born to helicopter parents and grow up sheltered, being told they are special. They are then shipped off to universities, carrying along their unrealistic expectations.

Three months ago, Pranav Padmanabhan moved from India to (NUIM) in Ireland to pursue his Master’s in IT Management. Managing expectations was one of his biggest challenges.

“To start with expectations, I’d say it is of two types –��one would be personal expectations, and the other would be societal expectations.

“Personal expectations are something we expect from ourselves, what we can do and our own perception of our abilities and capabilities. Students who travel abroad generally have high motivation to achieve something, which acts as their drive to go ahead with it, irrespective of the uncertainties that might hover around that decision.”

“The second is societal expectations. This includes parents, friends back home, peers and anyone and everyone around us. For example, once I got here, I had peers who were always on top of everything be it assignments, group work, or class discussions.”

High expectations are��expected when students and their parents have piled their hopes –��and for some, their life savings –��into an expensive international education. Throw in the impossible dreams sold as attainable by social media and the increasingly competitive job market, and the stakes become dangerously higher.

In Cindy’s case, she felt she had to give it all. “I was under a lot of pressure to get��good grades for my final year and the worst part is that the pressure came from myself. Once it came down to being in a prestigious university and having extremely brilliant people around me, I felt like I should give my all”.

A high benchmark makes the fall harder. Young Minds’ report states: “When a mismatch occurs between expectation and reality, between the dream of success and the pressure of assignments, both individual and institution are at risk of disappointment and failure.”

And these triggers from failures and disappointments will have consequences, such as falling grades, flunking classes, and excessive isolation from peers. Cindy and Pranav are some of the lucky ones. Cindy could afford a psychiatrist back in Malaysia and Pranav got better through effective counselling. “Today, I am fine, I am happy and I am so much stronger than before,” said Cindy. ��Help was available before things got out of control.

But some, like Aniza Azim, a medical student at , were not so lucky.

Aniza had struggled with depression since her second year in A Levels, with all the UCAS applications, extracurricular activities, and other responsibilities. The depression then followed her to university. On her first day back in uni after spring break, she found out there would be an exam. “I decided to stay in as I couldn’t handle the anxiety and panic while my (ex) partner left for uni.”

“It was a very surreal moment and I felt like I was going mad and that it was too much and I couldn’t handle being in my own head anymore. I grabbed my supplies, drank copious amounts of alcohol, cut myself multiple times and tried to overdose on paracetamol. I passed out eventually and was found by my ex a few hours later. And I woke up in the hospital.”

Now officially diagnosed with depression, Aniza is still struggling with it every day. It has caused her to take a year off from university. And this year, she left her studies.

“I’m unsure of what’s next and it still scares me. But I’m trying to take the time to figure it out and to try and just be okay with just being …

“It’s okay to change, to figure out yourself and to realise that you’re not the same person you were a few years ago. You’re you, you’re not a projection of what your family, friends, and society think of you,” she said.

Often, we are surprised to hear of accounts like these. Or statistics like the above. Our surprise imply that we did not expect that our sons, daughters, and friends are part of this worrying statistic. And it goes beyond just numbers. It shows that we too did not know the scale of hidden anguish our loved ones had inside them.

The way forward

This crisis is a collective problem requiring effort from all quarters. The good news is it is preventable if we are armed with more data and less stigma.

A recent study by the showed that exposure to suicide content, including details about suicide methods, had served to validate and glorify suicide. These findings had prompted the House of Commons Health Select Committee to call for such websites to be . The select committee is also urging the government to increase support and investment for public mental health and early intervention services.

At��campus level, Pranav urged universities to treat the Bristol students tragedy as a wake up call, calling on��universities and students to work together right from the start to make the transition easier.

“Proper orientation needs to be provided to freshmen on how to manage social and school life … I would urge every university to spend a week full of orientation activities at the start of the year to help students make the transition successfully. This should be a necessity if we’re talking about international students, as there are a lot of challenges to overcome,” he said.

The stigma surrounding mental illness has hindered efforts in��getting more ��into research and public awareness. For ethnic minorities, like international students, stigma is also one of the ��preventing them��from seeking��help. Based on their personal experiences,��Aniza and Cindy have called for students suffering from mental health issues to ignore such stigma and to seek help from friends, family, and their university.

“Look for help when you need it. See your GP, the university pastoral support, and counselling service. The latter two will help you with university matters and especially with mitigating circumstances if you need help with exams and deadlines,” suggested��Aniza.

Cindy also advised future students to be strong.

“I guess my advice, really, is that anyone who is undergoing this, know that you’re not alone, and that don’t be afraid to seek medical or professional help. Do not think you are weak just because you are going through this. Everyone has problems, don’t be afraid to talk to your friends or parents or even a counselor if you need it. Don’t ever feel like you’re worthless.”

*Name changed at interviewee’s request

Images via Shutterstock��

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More than three-quarters of women (77%) reported name-calling, receiving inappropriate sexual messages, gatekeeping, and dismissiveness, according to .

28% of online multiplayer gamers who experienced in-game harassment avoided certain games due to their reputations for hostile environments, . In the same survey, 22% stopped playing certain games altogether.

is not one of them.

Born in Togo, Lufau’s family moved to neighbouring Benin, where she spent her middle school years.

There, she stumbled upon a cyber cafe and learned of the world of video games and the gaming community beyond those on her Windows computer.

“The first thing I saw was the icon for ‘Prince of Persia’ – the very first instalment from 1989,” says Lufau. “I started playing it right there, and it clicked inside me because I had no idea there could be a storyline told within games.”

From that moment, Lufau’s world was changed – and it was about to get much bigger.

When her family relocated to France, Lufau discovered another side of gaming: online multiplayer. In particular, she had been introduced to League of Legends (LoL).

LoL is a multiplayer online battle arena comprising two teams of five. it as “at its most basic level, LoL is a game of capture the flag, though that is a bit like describing brain surgery as ‘a medical procedure.’”

This game is one of the biggest titans in esports, with its championships racking up .

It’s also one of the gaming community’s most toxic, .

Still, after spending around 16 years playing the game, Lufau isn’t deterred from it. In fact, she’s more determined to stay than ever.��

The question is, why?��

During her bachelor’s degree, Lufau spent three months abroad learning Chinese language and literature at the National Cheng Kung ����vlog���� in Taiwan. Source: Jennifer Lufau

‘I would get insults just because I’m playing a dark-skinned character’

Lufau realised a few stark problems in gaming when she first played “Prince of Persia.”

“I was in the position of a character that had to go through hell to save a princess,” she says. “And it was always a princess that I would barely see in the game. I remember thinking back in the day, ‘Who is this princess, and why can’t I see her?’”

The lack of female characters in the games, alongside the perception of female characters that heavily revolved around the damsel-in-distress trope, was just the beginning of it all.

In games where you could customise your avatar, it was always difficult for Lufau to create a character of her colour.��

“I would very rarely see my colour, and sometimes, the maximum shade of dark I could get to was grey,” says Lufau. “Like, come on, these are games, and it’s just a question of colour, so why wasn’t it possible?

Then, there was the .��

Lufau recalls that her first experience of racism was through gaming – sometimes, just from playing a dark-skinned character. Even having a gaming alias like “BlackQueen17” prompted insults.��

“‘BlackQueen’ gives it away immediately that I’m a girl and I’m also Black, which would apparently be a reason for others to insult me,” says Lufau. “I could never have expected that to happen while playing games because I was just there to have a good time.”

As a teenager who only had positive experiences gaming so far, this negativity was shocking.��

It was even harder on Lufau, who, at that time, could not share her troubles regarding her hobby with anyone else in real life since no one could understand where she was coming from.��

The worst part came during a face reveal with her online friends, with whom Lufau has been on voice-only chat. They were “flabbergasted to see my face,” she says.��

“They were like, ‘Woah, I was not expecting this because your voice is so sweet and soft, I would never expect you to be Black,’” shares Lufau. “I was like, what does that mean? Where did that come from?”

Those experiences opened the doors for Lufau to explore what diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in gaming could be like.��

The first game that blew Lufau’s mind was “Prince of Persia,” developed by Ubisoft. Years later, Lufau would have the opportunity to work at the company. Source: Jennifer Lufau

In 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the George Floyd protests, Lufau made her move. Specifically, it was the start of a blog where she would share her stories and encounters in games.��

“Many people don’t know about these experiences, and I couldn’t find online testimonies about girls playing games or Black women playing games,” she says. “So, I decided I was going to share it myself.”

One of Lufau’s first blog posts comprised four interviews with Black women from Madagascar, the US, the Netherlands, and Canada.

Writing the interviews was like looking into a mirror.��

“Their experience was so, so similar to mine that I realised that this was a thing,” she says. “I’m not completely crazy and there is something ongoing in the gaming community, and I want people to know more about it.”

Through that, Lufau founded , a groundbreaking French community and non-profit with a mission to elevate Black women and queer individuals in gaming.

While Lufau did not identify as queer at the start of Afrogameuses, she knew it was a community she wanted to extend a helping hand to.��

“I realised that there were so many people who didn’t find their community in the gaming space who needed it, and I wanted them to feel seen, heard, and included,” she says. “There was just no way I could let them wait on the side.”

Having queer people around her helped Lufau in her own journey too, as she now identifies as queer.������

“There’s so much learning you get to do when you start chatting and hanging out with people who are different or identify differently,” says Lufau. “It’s been a journey of learning and listening a lot, which helps understand others.”

This, she emphasises, has always been a huge part of growing and building a community like Afrogameuses.��

What started as a simple blog post about her experiences gaming as a Black woman has shaped Lufau’s path as a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant. Source: Jennifer Lufau

A message to gaming developers: ‘Representation matters.’

Lufau works as a DEI consultant for gaming studios, helping them create inclusive content, characters, and stories for their games.

“Many people who create games have good intentions,” says Lufau. “They can be a team of 15 white dudes making a game about an African country, and I’d say go ahead, but please do it well and do it with the right people who can help you because representation matters.”

“Remember that there are people who are part of this demographic who will be expecting to find this authentic side in your game.”

This isn’t too Herculean a task. After all, technology has advanced leaps and bounds in the last decade alone, so there’s no excuse or reason not to create diverse characters and stories.

“We have the people who have the competence and the skills to create these worlds,” says Lufau. “We also know that having diverse characters and universes in these games will definitely help the younger generations.”

Nintendo’s iconic Mario franchise has done it after years of playing into the damsel-in-distress trope. Princess Peach, whom Mario heroically saves from Bowser, became her own protagonist in “Super Princess Peach” and “Princess Peach: Showtime!” respectively – .

And if a giant like Nintendo can do it, what’s stopping everyone else from doing it?

“I believe that gaming has the power to change the world because it’s one of the most interactive media ever that helps people understand what it’s like living in the skin of somebody completely different from you,” says Lufau. “This is why we also need to have more stories so that people can experience them.”

Lufau seeks to empower the next generation of creators to infuse their work with inclusion and meaningful storytelling. Source: Jennifer Lufau

So far, Lufau’s clients include developer studio and their afro-fantasy multiplayer online role-playing game, “The Wagadu Chronicles,” and Adam Kareem’s “,” a 3D platformer featuring a colourful cast of characters.

Still, Lufau knows that a minority of people within the gaming community will always be dissatisfied with the results of more diverse and inclusive games.

Take the upcoming release of “Assassin’s Creed Shadows,” for example.

This 2025 release will be the series’s 14th major instalment. The setting is in 16th-century Japan towards the end of the Sengoku period. It features two protagonists: Naoe, a female shinobi, and Yasuke, an African samurai inspired by the historical figure of the same name.

The dissent was immediate.

While the real-life inspired Yasuke was the main target behind the petition to cancel the game due to or , the fictional Naoe – or Ubisoft, really – had to fend off her share of strife for her gender alone.

“There are people complaining about the lack of the ability to play a Japanese character in the game, but she’s literally there,” says Lufau. “Anyone can play as a female character. Women have been playing as male characters all this while.”

At the end of the day, it’s about not giving up this particular fight.

“These are gamers who have always been able to play games where they could see themselves,” says Lufau. “They want to silence marginalised people into not taking space, and we’re doing the exact opposite. So that’s why I think we’re gonna take a lot of wins in the future.”

When she couldn’t find anyone who could relate to her experiences in gaming, Lufau decided to foster her own gaming community. Source: Jennifer Lufau

What winning looks like for a DEI gaming community

Beyond her work with gaming developers, Lufau’s most significant accomplishment as a champion of DEI gaming is seeing how her work with Afrogameuses has allowed people to feel seen, heard, and represented.

“Knowing that because we exist and because of the work we do, someone managed to get a job in game development or started streaming, all because they found a community that supported them,” says Lufau.

It’s been a full-circle journey, and while the road ahead might be hard, Lufau knows that the work and effort are worth it.

“I started all this because I was lonely and felt like I was the only one playing games,” she says. “Ultimately, it was a selfish motive that led me to create this community because it didn’t exist before, and I wanted that for me. But now, it’s serving other people too.”

But Afrogameuses is just one part of the bigger picture that Lufau is championing for DEI gaming, and she won’t stop until she’s carved out a space for everyone to feel seen.

This mission is reflected in Lufau’s choice of academic degrees too.

For her bachelor’s, her love for languages drove her to pursue a degree in applied foreign languages in foreign trade at the Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée in France.��

“I realised that languages could change something because learning English while gaming helped me communicate with people from around the world,” she says.

To fully immerse herself in her studies, she went on exchange programmes to Spain and Taiwan to learn Spanish and Mandarin. Sometime after her undergraduate degree, she spent a sabbatical year in Shanghai, China, where she spoke in Mandarin daily as she sold French wine to customers.

Currently, Lufau has added Korean and German to her language repertoire too.

It’s the belief that being willing to speak to people in their languages is a way to speak to their hearts. “It shows your effort, that I really want to understand you, so I’m going to learn your language for us to communicate in the best way possible,” she says.

All of this only scratches the surface of her academic accomplishments.

Lufau went on to earn a master’s degree in international project management at France’s Université Sorbonne Nouvelle. Her master’s thesis was on video games as a tool for innovation – an apt paper for her work thus far.

Next, she earned an MBA at Devinci Executive Education.��

“People believe in this, and so I will never give up on the work we’re doing because I’m not doing it for myself,” says Lufau. “I’m doing it for these people who believe this should happen.”

Of course, you can’t end a talk with a gamer without asking about their favourite games. For Lufau, these were the ones that shaped her life the most and provided an enjoyable time playing.

First place goes the game of her teenagehood, “LoL.”

As a place where she met many friends and incredible people and learned the most about herself despite how turbulent things got, it had to be on the list.

The classic fighting game “Tekken” allows you to play with just about anyone – whether it’s a random person or those closest to you. It could be played anywhere too, from computers to consoles, like the Xbox that Lufau convinced her mum to get for her and her siblings.

“In the end, the whole family was using it, and we spent a lot of time playing ‘Tekken’,” she shares.

Third place goes to “Prince of Persia,” a love reignited after Lufau’s playthrough of the latest January 2024 release, “Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.”

And last but not least, an honourable mention had to go to “Assasin’s Creed.”

“The stories and the immersion are incredible,” says Lufau. “I think we all felt we were taking a history lesson while playing the game.

The Santa Monica College dance major no longer gets to enjoy a rented apartment and all its comforts; he’s now living out of his car, doing his laundry at shelters, and picking up free food wherever it can be found.

It’s nowhere near the life he’s lived in the US in the past, but Sasaki is tackling being homeless with a newfound determination.

How did one summer change everything for him?

Since returning to the US from Japan, Mark Sasaki has had a complete lifestyle change. The biggest of them all is being homeless. Source: Mark Sasaki

Being homeless was a choice

Over the summer, Sasaki’s parents informed him that they were both sick and, because of it, would be unable to financially support him once December – Sasaki’s college graduation – came around.

“They asked me to consider going back to LA after the summer because even though they could support me till December, they won’t be able to give me much,” says Sasaki.

However, Sasaki already had big plans set in motion, and the most significant plan of all was getting his Green Card.

Officially known as a Permanent Resident Card, it allows you to live and work permanently in the US – and it’s something highly sought after by international students in the US.

, about 781,000 initial H1B visa (a non-immigrant work visa that allows US employers to hire foreign workers with specialised skills to work in the country for a specific period) applications were submitted.

Only 24% were selected to complete a petition. Of those, only 85,000 will receive a visa. Master’s and PhD holders get an additional 20,000 spots too.

“I’ve been applying for a Green Card since last year, and I didn’t want to waste this opportunity,” says Sasaki.

“So, in the end, I came up with the idea of being homeless when I came back to the US.”

Sasaki (lower right) never expected he’d end up being homeless as an international student, but he’s making the most out of what he’s got. Source: Mark Sasaki

‘Rising from Zero’: A homeless international student’s journey

In 2024, the US homelessness rates jumped by double digits — , to be exact.

Across the nation, more than 770,800 lived without housing in the year, a drastic increase from the 580,000 in 2022.

California, where Sasaki attended college, was the state that experienced the most homelessness in 2023, according to data from the .

And not only is California one of the , numbering more than 300 institutions, but it also has the most international students, .

Sasaki, being part of both those categories — that is, being homeless and an international student — spent his first night back in the US sleeping in a friend’s car before setting out to find one of his own.

It was an essential task. The car would be his home for the foreseeable future.

Luckily enough, he met someone selling a car for US$4,000 the next day, and after sharing his story, the price was cut down to US$2,500 – almost a month’s rent for a studio in Santa Monica.

As of January 2025, the average rent in Santa Monica is US$3,013 per month, .

It’s 94% higher than the national average rent price of US$1,552 per month, making Santa Monica one of the most expensive cities to live in the US.

Apartments here can go for around US$2,440 per month for a studio, US$3,013 for a one-bedroom apartment, and US$3,764 for a two-bedroom apartment.

It’s a huge expense, especially for university students without a full-time job.

Hence why giving up an apartment, while not ideal, made perfect sense for someone low on funds.

Still, the cost-save hasn’t come without its downsides.

 

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“Sometimes I feel lonely,” , “Sleeping overnight in the parking lot with no one around makes the nights feel even longer.”

Since September 2024, Sasaki has been recording and uploading snippets of his everyday life about being homeless as an international student.

His Instagram profile, named “,” shows short, edited clips of his journey.

As of January 2025, he has garnered over 27,400 followers on the account – a feat he had never imagined possible when he began this journey.

“My intention with the videos was not to motivate other people,” says Sasaki.

It was a project he undertook for himself – to change for the better.

There was another thing on the line too, something that was on par with earning his Green Card.

Sasaki wanted to prove himself to his ex-girlfriend, whom he had broken up with during the summer, that he could become the best version of himself and regain their relationship.

“I was a careless person; I used to be cocky, overconfident, and selfish,” he says.

“When people used to reach out to me or try to help me, I would thank them but turn them down and forget about what they did for me the next day. But throughout this journey, I realised that everybody needs help.”

It’s one of Sasaki’s most significant takeaways from being homeless so far: that fostering strong connections with good people is the way forward.

As someone who never had issues approaching others, regardless of their intentions, this mindset was a game-changer for Sasaki.

“I realised it was stressful to interact with people that way, and when I started to be more selective about who I was around, it really helped me mentally,” he says.

The many comments on his daily video updates are a boost too.

“I wouldn’t be who I am today without those positive comments,” he says.

“But at the same time, I struggle with handling negative comments or haters. So, there are pros and cons to posting every day. However, overall, I really feel supported and blessed by those positive people.”

 

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Where the finish line lies for a homeless international student��

Being homeless, especially as an international student who still has to go to classes, isn’t something for the weak-willed.

Sasaki doesn’t attribute his resolve to a strong mindset, though.

“I think I was just lucky,” he admits. “There were two things that impacted my life that made me want to grow myself.”

The first was his breakup, which his audience is familiar with.

The second, however, might come as a surprise.��

The day before his flight back to the US and being homeless, a close friend of Sasaki’s had reached out to him.

“I used to be the type of person who was lazy, always procrastinated, and end up not doing anything. Because he knew how much I wanted this, he told me that he would cut me off if I ever stopped growing or compromised my plans,” he says.

“And what he told me definitely pushed me to follow through my words.”

 

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Now, four months after beginning this chapter of his life, Sasaki’s still homeless,but he has successfully , , and has ��

It’s almost a home run of achieving goals, though he did fall short of one – earning US$10,000 by December.

From to to even , Sasaki gave it his all and more to achieve this one goal.

It was also worth noting that despite his many followers offering financial help, he , determined to make it on his own.

And while he’s disappointed that this goal wasn’t checked off the list, Sasaki is more determined than ever to achieve a new, bigger goal: to become happy.

“I want to not care about money and do the things I want to do for fun,” he says.

“I also want to challenge myself in a lot of things, like starting up my business and interacting with people who specialise in different things. I want to take care of my parents too.”