When Majdi Felah came to the U.S. to earn a master's degree in architecture, he left a country that was still under the 23-year regime of president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. Tunisia was a country where politics and freedom of speech were not an option for the citizens to take part in.
The Fulbright scholar was born three years before the start of Ben Ali's presidency, and the first few years under his regime were years of high tourism rates and a stable economy. But the people in Tunisia soon found some problems with their government.
"People started to notice that there was a lot of corruption in the government and no freedom of speech," Felah said. "Politics were almost taboo. Protests were limited. I once participated in a protest, about 10 years ago, and we had police officers around us holding us aggressively."
This regime ended when a sudden wave of protests that started in January led to the escape of Ben Ali and his political party. Concerns about the military were cleared when they allied themselves with the democracy.
"We're really proud. There is already a change," Felah said. "Now we can speak free about our politics, we can express our points of view. It was led and started by the people. We hadn't done anything for the past 23 years. My friends would tell me this is the first time in our lives that when we sing the national hymn, we actually feel it."
But it hasn't been easy for Felah to watch the issue develop away from his country.
"I was worried. Last weekend, there was a lot of tension in the capital, so for about 15 hours I stayed online on Facebook and Skype talking with my family and friends," he said. "I was looking at the news constantly; it was a critical situation. I talked with my sister over Skype and she was telling me they needed to go to the spaces in the house where there were no windows because there was shooting everywhere for certain hours."
However, Felah said he was also glad to hear from his friends talk about protests.
"I was very concerned, but at the same time I was proud, because I heard of some friends that were part of protests and were attacked with tear gas," he said. "But I know we did something for our country, and it's an example for the other Arab countries."
The revolts in Tunisia have influenced other countries to similar movements.
In Egypt, numerous protests by the end of January are bringing the near 30-year regime of President Hosni Mubarak down. Thousands of protesters are taking to the streets of Egypt calling for the end of Mubarak's government. Yemen is also starting to see revolts.
Other international students from Arab countries approved the movements and were hopeful to see more power from the people.
Khalid Sajjad, an international student from Afghanistan, said he thought people were starting to realize how upsetting it was to live under regimes of large periods of time.
"The people are not satisfied with the system, and the government forgot to take into consideration that they are susceptible to revolts if the public is not happy with them," he said.
Zia Abdullah, another international student from Afghanistan who has been following the recent events, said he wants to see other countries step up like Tunisia and Egypt.
"Other countries, they should learn and demonstrate in a peaceful way to get rid of the dictatorship," he said. "We need to learn from the people of Tunisia to fight for our rights."
Abdullah said he thought social media was a strong tool that helped people during the rebellions.
"This is the first country from which I've heard has started a revolution against dictators through the Internet," he said. "It's a good thing to happen to the social media community, and it's a more peaceful way to show your voice."
Sajjad said he is not worried about the future of the Arab countries that are revolting against their authoritarian government.
"No matter how bad the future for these countries, it will be better," he said. "These protests are opening the political process for people. I'm hopeful these things will continue and the governments in these countries understand they can't elect themselves anymore. It's no benefit for the country and it's no benefit for them."
This is Felah's last semester on campus. He said with the movement for freedom in his country, he's looking forward to going home.
"I was thinking about my future and where I want to be when I graduate," he said. "I was thinking about working in Dubai or somewhere else, but now I feel like going home because I want to do something for my country."
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