It's that time of year again—graduation season, an unforgettable experience for many international students. Especially with the return of in-person ceremonies this year, the sense of ritual is absolutely heightened.
For New Yorkers, it's the Empire State Building lit up in brilliant colors for graduates, a unique memory of graduating alongside Taylor Swift.
Your graduation emotions have been stirred, and the trolls' keyboards have been set in motion too.
Your Graduation Ceremony, a Carnival for Trolls
Due to the pandemic over the past two years, Columbia only fully resumed its large-scale in-person graduation ceremony this year.
It was supposed to be a heartwarming event, but some netizens inexplicably targeted it: seeing a beautiful woman and asking if she's from SPS, seeing an ordinary person and dissing their looks.
Columbia = SPS = Watered-down Degree
A Columbia young lady shared beautiful graduation photos, and netizens immediately chimed in with sarcasm: "Please stop recommending SPS to me."
In the eyes of trolls, Columbia = SPS = watered-down degree.
Whether SPS is watered-down or not aside, the key point is she's not even from SPS. 😓 Even if she were, those still "hating for the sake of hating" are truly out of touch with reality.
When an international student says "I'm going back to my home country after graduation," comments below are also sarcastic: "Just stay in the US," "Don't come back"...
Sometimes it's hard to understand why trolls harbor so much malice, as if someone returning to their home country would compete for their jobs in some factory.
Only Beautiful People Deserve to Post Graduation Photos?
A graduating couple took a graduation photo together, probably using the original camera without editing, and the trolls immediately jumped in: "Their looks really suit each other."
Many echoed below: "Seeing ugly people and not calling them ugly, that's some real emotional intelligence."
Wait a minute, their tag says Columbia University, not "internet celebrity good-looking couple." Even graduation photos from a world-class university get nitpicked? Either they tell them to do skincare or teach them how to pose for photos.
Or they make a snide remark: "So that's the school where half the students are Chinese?"
Yeah, yeah, so many Chinese students, but none of them are you.
Having an Accent = Poor English Skills
A beautiful Cornell student was chosen as the student representative to speak at graduation—needless to say how outstanding she is.
Yet trolls still found something to nitpick:
"Poor speaking skills."
"Is this really an accent from someone who studied abroad for two years?"
Language is about expression and communication; it's enough to convey one's thoughts clearly and fluently, not to show off.
But in 2022, some netizens still think "having an accent = poor English skills." I'd also like to ask: are those criticizing others' accents all graduated with TEM-8 or as simultaneous interpreters?
Taylor Swift Gets an NYU Honorary Doctorate? America Is Doomed
After bashing ordinary people, how could the gossip about celebrities be left out?
By now, everyone has been swamped by Taylor Swift's NYU graduation speech. Her speech might not have been perfect, but her sincerity was moving.
Yet open Zhihu and the question "What do you think of Taylor Swift being awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree by NYU?" practically became a meltdown scene for small-town studyholics.
Beautiful and inspirational? Doesn't exist. In the eyes of trolls, she's simply "unworthy of the honor":
"Only a school like NYU would find someone who never even attended college to give a speech, preaching about life to those who graduated from college."
What's wrong with "a school like NYU"? Isn't it a Top 30 US university?
So what if she never attended college? She herself openly acknowledges her non-traditional educational path after 10th grade.
Calling her the American Zhai Tianlin is both foolish and malicious. They might as well add "performers ruin the nation," enforcing moral law all the way to the Pacific.
Anyone with a bit of study-abroad common sense knows that many famous people have received honorary doctorates (Honorable Doctorate) to recognize their social influence and contributions in their respective fields. Over the years, everyone understands the true value and meaning of this degree.
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But no, every year when a celebrity receives an honorary degree, netizens around the world react like a conditioned reflex, writing essays.
Yet the narrative is always similar: in short, it's "a slap in the face to scholars, a great disrespect to the degree, and even a disgrace to society as a whole!" They'll also take the chance to criticize the graduates who post photos celebrating with celebrities, "You can't see the truth!"
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Haters Gonna Hate, but if trolls could use their time for more meaningful things, our society might be a bit better.
Bashing Elite Schools = Secret to Viral Traffic
Elite schools, as representatives of academic institutions, are always in the spotlight, and matters big and small can be magnified.
You think "showing off an elite school" is a traffic magnet? "Bashing an elite school" works just as well, and sometimes even hotter.
For instance, last year, Columbia's graduation ceremony was tagged with "racial discrimination."
The controversy stemmed from Columbia's six additional graduation ceremonies, held separately for local students, LGBTQ+ communities, Asian students, first-generation or low-income students, Latinx students, and Black students.
The university had good intentions, aiming to celebrate the diversity of the school community and provide a more intimate and meaningful atmosphere for underrepresented groups. Holding multicultural graduation ceremonies has been a long-standing tradition at Columbia.
Yet when Fox News ran the story "Columbia hosts six separate graduation ceremonies based on income, race, and ethnicity," it immediately thrust Columbia into the eye of a public storm.
Netizens brimming with "righteousness" flocked to comment under Columbia's official Twitter:
"Segregating graduation ceremonies by culture and race is blatant racial segregation and discrimination."
"Inclusivity at a university means bringing everyone together, not dividing them like this. Columbia is promoting racism and elitism."
Although many Columbia alumni stepped up to debunk the claims, pointing out media sensationalism:
Unfortunately, the flip side of being in the spotlight is becoming the target. The media only wants clickbait headlines, and the audience is happy to hurl accusations without caring about the truth.
Malicious speculation, casual slander, treating meanness as humor, trying to reduce top students to mediocrity—anyway, they can't admit that others excel; nor can they tolerate others praising them, warning about "overhyping" after a few comments. The current internet culture is increasingly distorted. Even with IP addresses displayed, it can't stop trolls from having their carnival behind screens.
Believing that "elite schools = elitism = self-interest = privilege" is the deep-rooted prejudice of trolls. And international students have become one of the biggest victims, consumed by this discourse.
The Malice Towards International Students Is Entirely Unnecessary
Since the pandemic, international students have had it hard enough, but they dare not complain, afraid of being seen as pretentious.
But trolls only ask: Why did you choose to go abroad? Serves you right.
International students being misunderstood and bashed is routine. When feeling good, they might fire back a couple of replies; when not, they just sink into gloom.
Come graduation season, it should be one of life's most crucial and memorable milestones, yet they have to endure harsh words, feeling as though their graduation is "watered-down"—it's truly speechless.
International student life isn't always as glamorous as it appears. In fact, since the outbreak of the pandemic, international students have had a rough journey every step of the way.
Difficulties leaving the country, online classes, daily life, socializing, employment, returning home... Self-deprecating jokes aside, having one's hard work and persistence easily dismissed really does hurt.
Hopefully, netizens can offer more tolerance and understanding, allowing international graduates to fully enjoy their final beautiful moments on campus.
And to all international graduates—happy graduation! The road ahead is long. Keep pursuing your dreams, keep striving, and live out your own brilliance—silencing the trolls.
