Taylor Swift, International Students, and Bees

Taylor Swift just completed the most successful American tour in history, so like everyone else right now I’m using her name to grab attention.

But here’s the cool part- I actually went to her last U.S. show last week.

And here’s the even cooler part- there were a lot of lessons for international students in that tour.

At this point you’re probably saying ‘you need to calm down’, but I’m serious.

Here are 3 lessons from Taylor Swift to international students.

1. Stamina

Did you know that Taylor’s concert was 3.5 hours long?!

I’m not talking about the entire concert itself, I mean her performance specifically.

All together, me, my wife, and my definitely-didn’t-know-what-she-was-getting-herself-into 10 year old were rocking out to music from 6:30pm until 11:40pm.

That’s insane.

We were literally getting tired just being audience members, and she had the same energy in song 1 as she did in song 736 (or whatever it was).

The point I’m making here is, she has stamina for days.

Stamina is also one of the things that I see in the most successful international students.

It’s not easy.

There’s a lot of applications, record-keeping, classes, visa issues, work authorization options, etc. for international students to navigate through.

And the U.S. government’s attitude is, basically, do it all correctly all the time or you’re going to have a hard time later on when you apply for a visa renewal or new status.

But here’s another trick we can learn from Taylor.

At various points in her show she actually stepped off stage (or went under it through some cool trap door) while the band and dancers rocked out and kept the audience entertained.

(Yeah, it was mainly for a costume change, but I have to imagine that she at least took a swig of water too.)

While international students can’t have someone else maintain their status for them, they can lean on others when needed.

Your friends that are F-1 students and have been through the same trials.

Your school’s DSO.

Outside experts, like Ask A DSO or an immigration attorney.

It takes incredible stamina to be an international student. And that level of stamina is not possible without…

2. Passion

As Taylor herself admitted, she has “big feelings.”

What she’s done, arguably better than any artist alive right now, is turn those big feelings into relatable songs that engineer that same energy in her fans.

The result is a cocktail of passion usually reserved for the biggest sporting events.

Passion that leads to writing and recording 5 original albums in a five year period, PLUS re-recording “Taylor’s version” albums.

Passion that leads to 8-minute standing ovations in the middle of a show.

Passion that leads to literal earthquakes.

And where I’m so lucky is that I get to live and work with people that have that same kind of passion every day.

As I wrote last week, international students have become the gold standard for pursuit of the American Dream.

They have the passion to leave their friends and family.

The passion to brave an unknown world.

The passion to take considerable risk on a personal, professional, and financial level.

And when people have this kind of passion they can’t help but to…

3. Listen and respond

Listen, with all due respect to the Beyhive, Swifties are on a whole ‘nother level.

Taylor’s fans come dressed in costumes, in outfits modeled after her music videos, in custom shirts and with tattoos.

Look hard enough, and you’ll even find a 39 year old man in a shirt screened with a picture he got with Taylor on a flip phone in 2008.

(Yes, that’s me. And no, that shirt is not for sale.)

Anyways, Taylor knows this about her fans. And she not only tolerates it, she not only accepts it, but she CELEBRATES it.

She calls out in her show thanking fans for their outfits.

She feeds their inexplicable obsession with numerology.

She declared in her Netflix special that her fans have even changed her own understanding of her own songs.

In the business world this is known as superior customer service.

Understanding her base and giving them EXACTLY what they want.

And that’s what I want Ask A DSO to be for international students.

A place of community.

A place where the real questions can be asked.

A place that addresses not what’s convenient, not what’s easy, but what international students really need to know.

So please, take 2 minutes to complete our 5-question community survey and let us know exactly what YOU want to hear.

I’ll be enchanted if you do.

And if not, I’ll just shake it off (but not really).

Until next time,

Josh