Running Head: SAUDI STUDENTS IN THE U.S 1 SAUDI STUDENTS IN THE U.S 2 Saudi students in the USA Interview Transcription Background: This interview is about the life of Saudi students in the United states. The interview has questions that show how these students feel about living in the U.S and shows if they are facing any issues with adapting. Also, it shows what these students are thinking about the American culture and provides the interview with information about the difference between the education in Saudi Arabia and the U.S. Method: The interview was with one of the Saudi students his name is Ahmed and he has lived in the U.S for four years. Ahmed is studying PHD’s in Computer Science in Florida Atlantic University. The interview was made in his apartment in Boca Raton, Florida because I wanted him to be comfortable about this interview and to let him talk about everything without fear. I used voice recorder and I took notes to record this interview. This interview was on Monday the 17th, 2020. Interview Transcript: Abdul: “Hello Ahmed, how are you?” Ahmed: “I am good, how are you?” Abdul: “I am good, thank you.” Abdul: “I am making a research about the Saudi student’s life in the U.S and I have a couple questions that I want to ask you if that’s okay with you?” Ahmed: “Yeah sure!” Abdul: “Okay, what do you think about living in the U.S as an international student? How do you feel about that?” Ahmed: “The U.S. presents a great opportunity for people eager for learning and accomplishment. Throughout my studies at different institutions in the U.S., I have learned a lot in my field as well as in other disciplines. I saw that in myself and in other classmates who came from other countries around the world. We used to take classes together, accumulate our knowledge and experience, and perfect our scores. It is amazing to see what they have accomplished after they graduate and to notice the level of professionalism I achieved along the way, also.” Abdul: “I see, and Have you faced any problem(s) with adapting in the U.S? If yes, what is/are it/they?” Ahmed: “After being used to a specific lifestyle back in my home country, I faced some obstacles trying to adapt to life in the U.S. It did not take me much time to grasp the flow of everyday life here in the U.S. One of first challenges I faced, is dealing with public transportation. At the time, I had no previous knowledge or experience, and it cost me time to ask friends about it. After that, It became an everyday process that requires no thinking. ” Abdul: “Okay, and What do you think about the American culture?” Ahmed: “I admire the open-mindedness of people, which is inherently in American culture. People are adherent to their culture, and also open to exploring other traditions and cultures.” Abdul: “What are the differences between the education .

1. Running Head: SAUDI STUDENTS IN THE U.S
1
SAUDI STUDENTS IN THE U.S
2
Saudi students in the USA
Interview Transcription
Background:
This interview is about the life of Saudi students in the United
states. The interview has questions that show how these
students feel about living in the U.S and shows if they are
facing any issues with adapting. Also, it shows what these
students are thinking about the American culture and provides
the interview with information about the difference between the
education in Saudi Arabia and the U.S.
Method:
The interview was with one of the Saudi students his name is
Ahmed and he has lived in the U.S for four years. Ahmed is
studying PHD’s in Computer Science in Florida Atlantic
University. The interview was made in his apartment in Boca

2. Raton, Florida because I wanted him to be comfortable about
this interview and to let him talk about everything without fear.
I used voice recorder and I took notes to record this interview.
This interview was on Monday the 17th, 2020.
Interview Transcript:
Abdul: “Hello Ahmed, how are you?”
Ahmed: “I am good, how are you?”
Abdul: “I am good, thank you.”
Abdul: “I am making a research about the Saudi student’s life in
the U.S and I have a couple questions that I want to ask you if
that’s okay with you?”
Ahmed: “Yeah sure!”
Abdul: “Okay, what do you think about living in the U.S as an
international student? How do you feel about that?”
Ahmed: “The U.S. presents a great opportunity for people eager
for learning and accomplishment. Throughout my studies at
different institutions in the U.S., I have learned a lot in my field
as well as in other disciplines. I saw that in myself and in other
classmates who came from other countries around the world. We
used to take classes together, accumulate our knowledge and
experience, and perfect our scores. It is amazing to see what
they have accomplished after they graduate and to notice the
level of professionalism I achieved along the way, also.”
Abdul: “I see, and Have you faced any problem(s) with adapting
in the U.S? If yes, what is/are it/they?”
Ahmed: “After being used to a specific lifestyle back in my
home country, I faced some obstacles trying to adapt to life in
the U.S. It did not take me much time to grasp the flow of
everyday life here in the U.S. One of first challenges I faced, is
dealing with public transportation. At the time, I had no
previous knowledge or experience, and it cost me time to ask
friends about it. After that, It became an everyday process that
requires no thinking. ”
Abdul: “Okay, and What do you think about the American
culture?”

3. Ahmed: “I admire the open-mindedness of people, which is
inherently in American culture. People are adherent to their
culture, and also open to exploring other traditions and
cultures.”
Abdul: “What are the differences between the education in
Saudi Arabia and the U.S?”
Ahmed: “Although education in Saudi Arabia is not as advanced
as education here in the U.S., graduating Bachelor students in
the fields of Science and Engineering in Saudi Arabia are
comparable if not competent to the graduates of matching fields
in the U.S. Officials in Saudi Arabia are trying to raise the level
of the outcomes of Saudi universities to match the requirements
of the labor market.”
Abdul: “Could you describe a situation in which you felt it’s
necessary to be an ambassador for your country?”
Ahmed: “Being an international student in the US has taught me
a lot through many situations and occasions. One of the lessons
that I learned, is to set a good example of my culture and the
country I come from. Whenever I take a new class, I introduce
myself to my classmates with my name at first. However,
sometimes they get curious about the origin of my name, since
it is not so much common.
I have made many friends from the US as well as other
countries around the world. I always focus on conveying a good
image about my country, culture and our tradition. I remember
helpful conversations that yielded a deeper understanding of our
tradition.
That all is added to the help in reviewing and revising course
material and preparing for exams. It leaves a good impression
about myself and the culture I represent.”
Abdul: “What are the differences between the education in
Saudi Arabia and the U.S?”
Ahmed: “”
Abdul: “Has your experience here in the U.S helped you gain an
ability to communicate effectively within and among diverse

4. cultural groups? If so, could you cite specific examples?”
Ahmed: “Having friends and classmates representing different
cultures from many backgrounds is an eye-opening experience.
It stimulates critical thinking and facilitates progress of
conversion. During my English language program, I participated
in extracurricular activities that involved initiating and
continuing conversations with classmates as well as others.
Talking with others whom I have barely met in a foreign
language gets me out of my comfort zone, however it also
forces my brain to be sharp and spontaneous.”
Running Head:SAUDI STUDENTS IN THE USA
1
SAUDI STUDENTS IN THE USA
2
Saudi students in the USA
Observation Report
Background section
Is it ok to say that public opinion is one of the significant issues
when it comes to the citizens of a given country? This has gone

5. even further for the students in another state to live in fear of
not having the freedom to suggest what they would want to
speak. It is one of the significant issues that Saudi students in
the united states face(Griffin, Small, Clanagan, 2018). I,
therefore, developed further interest in observing what these
students were going through during their stay in the united
states.
My main aim for researching these students is to try to find out
more about the cases that have been emerging out of the public
threat from the government of Saudi. The community being
studied will be Saudi students in the united states. It comprises
of the students who have secured scholarships to study in the
united states of America (Griffin, Small, Clanagan, 2018). My
role in this community was conducting my research, then leave
the city. Therefore, I was just among the non-participant
observer.
1. Methodology
1. Note-taking
2. questionnaire
3. Observation
Note-taking
It is a technique of data collection where I decided to interview
a set of Saudi students. In the process, I was able to note take
some specific important information from the students, together
with their suggestions about the whole issue. The interview
process was on a personal level; hence the students decided to
open up their hearts without hiding anything. Therefore, it was
one of the helpful techniques where I was in a position of
collecting optimum feelings of the victims towards the main list
of the research.
Observation
It is a data collection technique where I was forced to observe
the whole community of Saudi students in the united states of
America. Basically, one of the ways I applied was my
observation techniques was through interacting with them on
one in the study institutions, where they lived, and also through

6. social media. Through this technique, I was able to notice the
reaction of the students, especially when this topic was brought
up.
Questionnaire
This is where I decided to give out a sheet of the question
paper. These question contained a set of questions which
revolved around the topic list. From the answers we obtained,
we were able to understand what the students have been going
through the whole process.
Findings from the data collection technique.
It is and was very depressing, having to realize that
currently, freedom of speech is still an issue in some countries,
especially in this new period. We were able to notice a level of
hatred that these students had towards the given topic of our
research. These students always expect to make new friends
through socializing and to know how they think differently
when an issue arises. However, all this turns out to become a
nightmare since the students will shift all the energy he or she
had to power of maintaining silence to avoid uncertainty to
happen.
These students, what they say, is that they are in a position
of speaking more about their country. If they do so, then their
life is at stake. Meaning there are some sets of penalties if
someone decides to leak any information about their country to
the stranger. It so unfortunate to them in such a way they cannot
indulge in any of the class discussion about their country. Some
of us might have questions on how the government is in a
position of realizing whether one has leaked something or not.
It is possible since there are some sets of spies within the
students themselves who take the information to the government
in case one opens up.
2. Literature review.
In this section, we further took a step in investigating more
from the previous researchers who have been researching these
issues. Some of the researchers are very bitter over the given
topic about the whole point (Ammann, 2005).

7. These scholars and the researchers went further in investigating
the issue of that face the Saudi students in the united states.
What they found out has a similarity from the field research I
carried out. These scholars suggested that the Saudi government
denied knowing all these issues that revolved around their
students from the country. Adam Cole, who was a researcher in
human rights in the Middle East section of the United States,
gave out a transparent scenario of what the students of Saudi
passed through (Ammann, 2005).
He said that he was contacted by johns Hopkin professor, who
was more upset about the activities done by their Saudi embassy
towards its citizen, who was a student in the respective country.
The student received a couple of massages that were life-
threatening. These massages come from the embassy of
Saudi(Ammann, 2005). The student was directed to take charge
of the whole process of anti-student events around the
university. Failure to do so, the student would face a thorough
consequence from the Saudi government. This was possible
because the Saudi government had already delegated to keep
track of the whole event.
One of the unknown students gave out information on how the
Saudi embassy has organized its spies wherever the students are
engaged. He says that the Saudi embassy has the set of either
two or one spies who is responsible for giving out every
information about any event organized by them. Hence this why
they have no power to demonstrate their suggestions and feeling
towards the negatives of their country(Mason, 2017).
The whole issue is not new to the Saudi embassy since the
entire affair was known by the former FBI agent Frank
Montoya. He suggested that some of the cases were forwarded
about a similar issue while he was still an agent. What was more
frustrating being that the agency was not concerned by then
with the problem, and also, they did not believe the whole issue
was just a trend(Mason, 2017)? Frank Montoya also suggested
that he has been talking to the current FBI agents who have said
that the whole issue has been expanding, especially during the

8. reign of Prince Mohammed. When more investigation was
carried out, the FBI team suggested that they have no comment
on the alleged Saudi spies.
The human rights organizations, together with other critics,
suggest that the current prince has the power to silence
everyone to maintain his decency. It was very evident in
September 2017 when the Saudi kingdom arrested more than
twenty people. They claimed that they have been exposing the
intelligence activity of a given country with the benefit of
helping the outside party(Mason, 2017). Two months later, the
other three hundred people were arrested for the claims in
partaking in corruption practices.
3. Conclusions
Every government ought to fully understand that the
power comes from the subject and not them. It very important
for everyone to know that the government has to set some sets
of rules for the citizens, and they have to understand that they,
too, have the power when they come together. Energy can
become helpful but sometimes can also become a threat,
especially to the subject to that power(Mason, 2017). Power can
make the subject slaves for the rest of their lives.
Hence any authority needs to come up with the best
governing style, which will become conversant to the citizens of
the country. For example, if the governing system of the Saudi
government is conversant, then it means that its citizens will
live freely, not subjected to the existing threats (Mason, 2017).
Some sets of measures have to be taken by the human rights
body to ensure the rights of the students of Saudi countries are
protected from the unjust full action. Also, they have to ensure
that the students have the freedom of speech wherever they are
which will help in releasing them to the jail of life they have
been subjected in

9. Reference
Mason, J. (2017). Freedom of speech
Griffin, E., Clanagan, J., Small, L., CodeBlack Entertainment.,
L.S. Productions., & Vivendi Visual Entertainment (Firm).
(2008). Freedom of speech. Sherman Oaks, Calif.: Codeblack
Entertainment
Ammann, D., Ammann, D., Ammann, D., Ammann, D.,
Ammann, D., & Ensemble fürNeueMusikZürich. (2005). The
freedom of speech
Groen, L., &Stronks, M. (2010). Entangled rights of freedom:
Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the non-
discrimination principle in the Dutch Wilders case. The Hague,
Netherlands: Eleven International Publishing