diff --git a/recruitmentCog/recruitment.py b/recruitmentCog/recruitment.py
index 70f72da..6b16707 100644
--- a/recruitmentCog/recruitment.py
+++ b/recruitmentCog/recruitment.py
@@ -51,13 +51,16 @@ QUESTIONS_LIST = [
 
 def sanitize_input(input_text: str) -> str:
     """Sanitize input to remove mentions, links, and unwanted special characters."""
+    # Remove user/role/channel mentions
     text = re.sub(r'<@!?(?:&)?\d+>', '', input_text)
+    # Remove URLs
     text = re.sub(r'http\S+', '', text)
-    # Allow unicode letters and common punctuation
-    text = re.sub(r'[^\w\s\p{L}\.,\?!`~@#$%^&*()_+=-]', '', text)
+    # Keep only word characters (including Unicode letters/digits), whitespace, and your chosen punctuation
+    text = re.sub(r"[^\w\s\.,\?!`~@#$%^&*()_+=-]", "", text)
     return text
 
 
+
 class Recruitment(commands.Cog):  # noqa
     """A cog that lets a user send a membership application."""