TAMPA, Fla. — Here in sunny Tampa, they're almost 6,000 miles away from home; but the last month has felt like years, and their minds and hearts are in Ukraine.
"The first five days, whenever I heard an unexpected sound from outside, I would freak out," said Lesia Kudashkina, whose mother and loved ones are living in central Ukraine – not far from Kyiv.
Yaroslav Senyk said it's been hard to concentrate in class or even listen to lectures because he's so distracted by the war ravaging his beloved homeland.
"At this point, the Russian army is just being savage, and barbaric, they can only fight against Ukrainian civilians," said Senyk.
Ivan Cherniavskyi, whose parents and younger brother are in Kyiv, said he sleeps in two-hour increments, waking up regularly to check the news.
"Do we want to be there with our families? Yes but what we want more is our families to be here with us in safety," said Cherniavskyi, a senior at the University of South Florida.
Somehow they find the strength to push on.
"Our family and our friends need us strong. They need us to spread information here. They need us to go to rallies. They need us to call them and be strong enough to support them," said Kudashkina.
Senyk is already preparing for his role when the war is over saying, "I'm an architecture major so for me, it's more important to finish my education here and then later when Ukraine will win the war, we will go back and rebuild the country."
They smile and beam with pride when they talk about the courage of Ukrainians.
"Now everyone knows about Ukraine, everyone knows how strong and brave and amazing Ukrainian people are," said Kudashkina.
The students told 10 Tampa Bay reporter Liz Crawford they will meet with her again when they are celebrating Ukraine's victory.