The Choice 2020 - Try being informed instead of just opinionated.

My students often ask me about politics in America. As a lifelong history student, I usually tell my students that it is far more essential to learn and be informed than emotionally reacting to America's political atmosphere.​

In the midst of the historic coronavirus pandemic, economic hardship, and a reckoning over racism, this November, Americans will decide who leads the nation for the next four years. Many international students are watching this election season with anxiety, fear, and stress. Regardless of our political ideologies or emotions, it is far more crucial to be informed about the 2020 election and put aside our preferences and feelings.

We are six weeks from one of the most essential and contentious elections in generations, and every day seems to bring a new outrage, controversy, or crisis.  

As I am writing this article, the political battle lines surrounding the replacement of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg following her death on Friday is adding more fuel to the fire. And of course, the grim milestone that the US passed 200,000 deaths from the coronavirus. No doubt, there will be more crises in the days to come.  

I highly recommend every international student to watch the new Frontline documentary. In the run-up to every presidential election since 1988, The Choice, a documentary featuring interwoven biographies of the two major-party candidates, Each election cycle, the candidates have had their unique themes. This year, there is no question: The theme is crisis.  
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The Choice 2020, zeros in on how President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden each have been forged by their crises, from childhood onward - and how those challenges have shaped their very different approaches to leading a nation now in crisis.  
This documentary will hear from friends, family, colleagues, and critics of each candidate. We will also learn how both men have responded to crises and conflicts throughout their lives. Hopefully, we will come away with valuable insights into how each man would confront the enormous challenges facing whoever is sworn in as president in January 2021.  

My advice to all my students: Try being informed instead of just opinionated.