"As an international student, if we don’t win COLA and better wages, there is a huge possibility that I would have to return home. Coming here, I thought that the UC as a public institution would be more attuned to issues of fair wages, and I have been bitterly disappointed. If you’re an international student, you have no family, no support to fall back on if something goes wrong with your finances. All these activities on the picket; performances, songs, and being in community have really energized us all. It’s an experience for me especially since I come from Singapore, a country where participating in any protest, even a one-person protest can land you in prison. I hope to take some of the organizing strategies I see here back to Singapore in our own fight to unionize the country’s vulnerable workers."