Photo: HSU student, Stephanie Teoh (right) and peers from Salzburg College, discussing the presidential election with an Austrian radio station.
Hardin-Simmons University business major, Stephanie Teoh, was one of several students who recently spoke about the U.S. presidential election with an Austrian radio station. Teoh is one of several students from across the United States earning college credit this semester in the Salzburg College study abroad program.
One of the interesting things about Stephanie, however, she is already an international student at HSU. Being from Malaysia, she already speaks English, Mandarin, and Malay. After a semester in Austria, she can add German to her list of languages.
Stephanie, and some of her peers at Salzburg College, Americans, recently discussed their thoughts on the election on Antenne Salzburg, a radio station that can be heard in the U.S. via an app called TuneIn Radio.
Phoebe Mayer, director of Salzburg College, asked some of the students if they would respond to questions from Hardin-Simmons University regarding their thoughts on the presidential election.
Survey results indicate that the students, watching the presidential campaign from their perspective outside of the United States, regard the election with varying degrees of interest.
Below are the responses from the students at Salzburg College…
1. What was it like watching the election from afar? Is it the same as following it in the U.S. or is it different? If different, then how?
“It was a lot different because I didn't really get all the hype like it normally is when you're at home.”
7.11.2012 1:51 PM
“Being with American students so much of the time meant that I was still exposed to conversation topics that had to do with the election. Even my host mom brought up the election a few times because she reads the newspaper every day. Europe, in general, seems interested in American politics. That being said, it still seemed different than usual - it was nice missing out on the campaign commercials on television!”
7.11.2012 1:46 PM
“I felt a bit detached from the entire process--because I was not constantly bombarded with political advertisements, I felt somewhat freed from the entire thing.”
7.11.2012 1:40 PM
“Much different, there is much less radicalism to it. You can get a better view of the candidate. It's no longer about sides, but how level-headed the candidate is.”
7.11.2012 1:14 PM
2. Influenced by your European experience, have your views on the candidates changed?
“Since I consider myself a democrat, some of my pre-existing views were solidified, such as that of social security. I like seeing that people are taken care of in Austria, I can see myself living in a country with a system more like this.”
“Not really--my family members are all staunch democrats, as am I, and watching from afar in Europe made me realize how unfounded the Republican fears of "socialization" are.”
“I believe so, Obama was a much clearer choice after being here and seeing how well their social safety net works. Also Romney seemed to lack empathy for the average American, which was a huge turn off for me.”
7.11.2012 1:14 PM
3. How did you follow the election as it unfolded?
“Because of the time difference, I didn't watch the results as they happened. When I woke up, I looked on the Internet at the results and when I checked my Facebook newsfeed everything was about the election.”
“I checked up on online news sources periodically. And talking to my peers in the program helped, too. Especially our political science major!”
“Mostly through word of mouth, but I followed the debates through the internet.”
“I just heard some of the comments made by Romney, especially after Hurricane Sandy, that really made me switch sides.”
7.11.2012 1:14 PM
4. Did you have any predictions?
“My predictions were mainly based on my intuition, which is that Obama was more likely to win the elections.”
“My initial prediction was that Romney would win the popular vote, but that Obama would win the electoral vote.”
Not really--the way the news had sensationalized the tight race that was to unfold, I could not be sure of anything.
Yes, I always figured Obama would win.
7.11.2012 1:14 PM
5. What was your general impression about the election?
“The elections are very important to the economy and I wish I was more interested in politics. My impressions about the elections is that it was something that had to happen and it was interesting to listen to everyone's opinions.”
“The main thing that hit me was all the crude comments on Facebook. The Republicans are bashing the Democrats because they think their candidate should have won. I feel like all that happened is stirring up the emotions of the people of America. Unfortunately, we are not a very unified country anymore.”
“All sensationalism, little substance. The addition and influence of SuperPACs in this election has totally convinced me that money plays a bigger role in politics than the actual candidates themselves.”
7.11.2012 1:40 PM
“The status quo remained the same. America wasn't ready for the social extremism Romney brought to the table.”
7.11.2012 1:14 PM
Teoh is part of HSU’s International Studies Program that oversees students using a semester to study at Salzburg College, as well as in other HSU programs in London, England; Hong Kong, China; Salamanca, Spain; and Sydney, Australia.
About Stephanie:
About International Studies (HSU students study abroad):