The Ukrainian exchange student is so cool. In the African-American history class, somebody tried to pull the “white guilt” trick on her, asking dramatically, “Do you, people in Ukraine, even know that we had slavery here in America?”

“Do you, people in America, even know we had slavery in Ukraine?” she retorted at once. “Slavery existed worldwide, so it’s not all about you.”

A week later, somebody tried to get at her from another side. “Can you begin to imagine how terrorized black people in America feel when they see reports of police brutality?” the person asked pompously.

“I spent most of last year running to the nearest bomb shelter,” she responded. “Can you begin to imagine how that feels?”

I have a feeling this is the first taste of real diversity people in the class are experiencing.