For the past 20 years, I’ve taught at the University of South Florida’s Judy Genshaft Honors College. As dream jobs go, I’ve hit the motherlode.

Honors students represent some of the best and brightest on campus. Their SAT scores and GPAs are off the charts. They are engaged in challenging majors. I often refer to them as the Jesuits of USF, a joke nobody ever gets, but I still like.

And yes, in case you’re wondering, as a high school student, I never would have met the demanding standards to be accepted into the honors program.

In recent days, I’ve been aghast at President Donald Trump’s assault on the thousands of international students who populate the nation’s university campuses.

Trump’s royal decree revoking Harvard University’s ability to enroll foreign students, though temporarily blocked by a federal judge, was peevish, petulant and stupid beyond all recognition.

In my years at USF, my classes have included young men and women from (and this is going to take a while): India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, Thailand, The Philippines, China, Taiwan, Germany, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Peru, Nigeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Cayman Islands, Mexico, El Salvador, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Panama, Venezuela and yes, Gaza.

Oh, and this is only a partial list.

The contributions of these international students are profound.

Almost all of are engaged in STEM majors — bio med, engineering, physics, chemistry, math, biology. A few are business majors. All of them are a joy to be around. They are intellectually curious. They are very serious people, and they can be funny, too.

If you think these students just show up at the USF doorstep and start their classes, you couldn’t be more wrong.

The process of getting a student visa is arduous, protracted and expensive. Voluminous paperwork, SAT scores, student transcripts, income statements, visa application forms and more are required. Students must also demonstrate a modicum of fluency in English.

An interview is often required at a U.S. Embassy or consulate office, sometimes requiring extensive and costly travel expenses. International students must also demonstrate they have the financial wherewithal to cover their expenses once they arrive on campus.

And then they wait. And wait. And wait to be approved.

For many students, arriving in the United States is their first experience living outside their home countries. Adjusting to American social norms, language, food and culture can be intimidating and a culture shock.

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Many students struggle with homesickness being so far away from family and friends. It takes a little time to adjust. And they do.

This rich, diverse mix of international students leavens the university experience.

Last year, USF had more than 7,000 international students representing some 140 countries. At the risk of being presumptuous, I would suspect most of my faculty colleagues across campus value the presence of these extraordinary young men and women in our classrooms.

I teach mostly history-related courses. And they involve team presentations on a multitude of subjects. Often, teams will include Indian and Pakistani, or Muslim and Jewish students. And everybody gets along just fine.

I also teach an upper-level Capstone class in which students are tasked with writing an extensive essay reflecting on their lives and how news events have influenced their personal world view.

My U.S. students often note how the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic impacted them. They almost always also take note of school shootings and active shooter drills.

But the international students will invariably recall the trauma of earthquakes, floods and social unrest in their lives.

Here’s one example: A couple of years ago, a Syrian student wrote about being in grade school in Damascus when the class heard shouting outside in a courtyard. As the students rushed to the window to see what was going on, they watched as their gym teacher was summarily executed.

I‘ve had students write about escaping anarchy, natural disasters and violence in their home countries.

And yet, so many of them want to use their American education to return to their homelands to make things better — the medical students, the engineering students, the computer science students, the nursing students. They want to make their countries better. And Donald Trump wants to throw them out.

It has been a privilege to be around these students.

Frankly, I also have a mercenary motive. Here’s a dirty little secret. I often learn more from them than they do from me.