Please stop fetishising international students on campus

As an international student, people always ask me :’should you date an international student?’

The truth is you shouldn’t (as sexy and irresistibly good-looking as I may be).  

What I mean by this is you shouldn’t just look for a person to date just because they are “foreign” to you. I admit, our features can be quite a turn on. The accent, the physical look of a particular geographical area, the ability to travel with them to their native land. They are all perks of dating an international student. But to be truly happy, you should date a person you connect with, a person that shares your views, your humour, your emotions – and not just someone you think is “exotic”. 

Dating someone because they are from a particular region isn’t really dating them, you’re more so using them for your own personal gain which could lead to a toxic relationship when the warranty dies off.

Try not look at someone’s nationality, their skin colour or hear their accent, but rather look at their morals and their ability to connect with you and share memories, as cringey as it sounds. 

That said, don’t feel bad that you find a foreign person more attractive. Everyone has a “type” though some may be ashamed to admit it. Personally, being a Canadian and living in the United Kingdom I find girls from France and Italy more attractive to me because they are more similar to me in character (they are also usually hot as hell).

On the other hand, my Canadian friend finds English girls to be more attractive (must be the accent). Moreover, so many of my English friends find Canadians attractive (it must be because we all smell like poutine and maple syrup). The point is we naturally find different cultures more attractive than our own because we like something different and new. Just how North Americans find European architecture stunning while a European would look at the same building and think “What the hell is wrong with this loser?”. 

But going for an international student purely for their looks reflects a wider interest in superficiality. Everyone tends to go straight for appearances when describing someone they like: “she’s beautiful, smart, charming.”. This gives off the impression that you value that person’s beauty more than any other character trait. What about intelligence, drive, humour?  Remember, over time, beauty fades away, but internal traits will continue to drive and support a healthy relationship between you and your partner. So if you’re not just looking for someone to bring home from Pryzm, dig deeper. 

Everyone has particular things they like in person, searching for a significant other is such a unique experience that no article can describe or give a format on achieving. But I’m bored of seeing people pick or avoid partners based on their ethnicity or international student status, and it needs to stop.