“I screamed out when I got the email that I was selected to attend the presidential debate,” said Jiayi Wu, 23, from Xinjiang in western China, a grad student at Hofstra University.
More than 6,500 students at Hofstra signed up to watch the presidential debate live, but only 300 students were lucky enough to get in.
“As an international student in Hofstra, I am so excited to have such a great experience,” Wu said.
Wu had intended asking President Barack Obama which favor of pizza he likes most. “Maybe then I can get the free pizza from now on for asking that question.”
Another international student, Ximeng Fan, 24, from Beijing, was a volunteer at the debate.
“I applied for being a volunteer for this debate last semester,” Fan said, “I was assigned to the debate hall to distribute the credentials.”
So what does this presidential election mean to these international students?
“I don’t really understand all the policies of these two candidates, but I do care about the immigration policy and how they are going to solve the job problem,” said Xue Cao, 24, from China, who is studying accounting at Hofstra.
“I hope the next president can improve the unemployment situation,” she said.
“Who cares,” said Xiaoqi Zhong, 24, also from China, “they are selecting the president of the United States, it’s really none of our business.”
“I just know one of them are going to be the next president,” Jiayi Wu said before the debate, “and I also know this is going to be my first and the only chance to see Mr. President so closely.”