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International Students: Their Uncertain 2020

By Roberto Casillas

“I only packed my bag for a week,” Quinnipiac senior and international student from Canada, Mckenna Haz said. “I haven’t been back to campus since, and it’s been seven months. Pretty much everything I own is in my friend’s basement in Connecticut.”

The boxes that contain all of Haz’s belongings that are still in Connecticut. Credit: Mckenna Haz

Haz is one of many international students that haven’t been back on campus since they left for spring break in the middle of March 2020. Sadly, leaving behind belongings is only one of the many struggles international students have faced in their pursuit of completing a higher education in the United States since they left for their week-long vacation.

Quinnipiac University was an innocent bystander this past March when the Covid-19 pandemic took over the world and shook up what we viewed as normality.

Everyone in the school was affected in one way or another, but for international students, the struggle that began in March started a period of uncertainty that continued all throughout the summer.

On March 15, Quinnipiac students received an email from President Judy Olian informing them that the school was going to be moving to online classes for the rest of the 2020 Spring Semester and that all in-campus housing would be closed. International students had to move fast, because they only had a few days to try to find a place to stay in the U.S. or secure a way to be able to fly back to their home countries.

Beginning of the email Quinnipiac University President, Judy Olian sent to the University community informing students would not return for the rest of the spring 2020 semester.

Some international students were not able to go back to school to get their belongings, and for the ones that didn’t make the trip back to the United States when the school reopened in August, such as Haz, they still haven’t been able to get them back.

Director of International Student Services at Quinnipiac, Sarah Driscoll was in charge of looking out for the international student community and helping them navigate through this whole period. Driscoll took the job after the untimely passing of Andrea Hogan and started during the last days of February. She was immediately tossed into the fire with all the events that happened soon after.

Driscoll understood that the situation for international students was very different to that of the Quinnipiac students who live in the U.S.

“Unlike domestic students, international students are bound by federal regulations,” Driscoll said. “These regulations limit many possibilities for international students, and there were many changes to these regulations over the summer that really caused a lot of anxiety and concern.”

Full Interview with Director of International Student Services at Quinnipiac, Sarah Driscoll. Credits: Roberto Casillas

International students returned home and continued to take their classes fully online. However, even this situation brought added hardships for students living in other countries. Time zone differences were and continue to be an issue for international students attending online classes from their home countries. Haz lives in Vancouver Island, Canada, where there’s a three-hour time difference from that of the Eastern Standard time in Connecticut. She had to be ready at 5 a.m. for her 8 a.m.  class.

But the stress and uncertainty only grew after classes ended in May 2020. Even though the summer should’ve been a perfect opportunity for students to relax after the madness that had ensued in the months prior, the summer brought new challenges for international students that made their situation even more precarious.

On July 6, President Trump’s administration along with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency announced that international students would have to leave the country or transfer schools if their university was doing online-only instruction during the fall.

“It was incredibly concerning,” Driscoll said. “It was a shock for everyone but specially for students who really felt helpless and attacked frankly because there was nothing that they could do. Those students that were still in the U.S. but taking all online classes because they were compromised would’ve been deported.”

CBS News video where the ICE guidelines where discussed. Credit: CBS News YouTube

Although Quinnipiac never went fully online and ICE’s decision was later overturned, the situation was complicated for students, who didn’t know if they were going to end up being affected.

“To me it was nerve-racking at first,” Haz said. “I definitely didn’t feel comfortable coming back to the U.S.”

The summer in the U.S. wasn’t an easy one either, with the country leading the world in confirmed positive cases and deaths due to Covid-19. Additionally, there were big tensions in the country regarding the fight for social justice, racism and the Black Lives Matter movement. For many, it seemed like a country revolting at the worst possible time, and that influenced many students not wanting to come back to the U.S.

“I decided (not to come back to the U.S. for the fall semester) like a week before having to come back to school,” Haz said. “Nothing was organized whatsoever, the numbers were increasing with Covid-19, and there’s the Black Lives Matter movement where people were dying, and it was all over the news and I was like holy s—, I’m not going back to that craziness.”

Haz is a member of the Quinnipiac Rugby Team. The team’s season got canceled officially during the summer. Similarly, junior international student from Spain, Selena Salas, is a member of the Quinnipiac Women’s Soccer team, and just like the rest of the athletic teams at the school, their fall season was canceled. This is a big reason why Salas decided to stay back in Spain.

“When I found out that there was not going to be a season I decided to stay at home,” Salas said. “I began playing for my town’s team, just so I could stay in rhythm for when I go back to Quinnipiac.”

Selena Salas playing for her hometown team in Elche, Spain. Credits: Selena Salas Instagram.

Salas mentions that the unresolved travel ban between the U.S. and the European Union was also a big factor for her not returning to campus for the fall semester.  

For students that did intend to come back, they had to face another big obstacle. The school made it mandatory for every member of the student body to arrive to campus with a negative Covid-19 test. The University decided to mail a test to every student so that they could take it at home before returning. International Students were not included in this, so, as Driscoll agreed, they were forced to find a way to get tested with little to no help from the University.

“We realized after contact had been made with the student body that the situation was going to have to be different with international students,” Driscoll said. “I wish this conversation would’ve happened earlier to avoid confusion, or just simply chosen a different plan that would’ve been more inclusive of international students.”

An email from Sarah Driscoll that shows the options international students had to get a pre-arrival Covid-19 test. Credits: Roberto Casillas.

There were still challenges upon arrival for international students, traveling through airports, isolation periods, etc. The handling of the arrival plan for international students is something that sophomore international student from New Zeeland, Lachie Harvey, was disappointed in, and he voiced his displeasure on an article for the Quinnipiac Chronicle.

“Quinnipiac is supposed to be our home away from home,” Harvey said. “The needs of international students should be a higher priority at the school. I think that the way that the school treated international students upon their return to campus was unforgivable. I was wrong when I thought international students would be well taken care off during the difficult circumstances.”

Offering little to no flexibility when it came to move in dates, arrival testing dates, transportation, along with the sub-par welcome that he had when he got to his isolation housing after a 37-hour trip, made Harvey displeased. When asked if he still feels that the school’s handling of international students’ arrival was “unforgiveable,” he had a clear answer.

“I absolutely do,” Harvey said. “We should’ve been tested upon arrival, we had to wait three of four days, and those days for a freshmen student like the one I was in isolation with, are critical days.”

Harvey is clear at saying that he doesn’t think there was any ill intent; however, he expected more from the University.

Even Driscoll is aware of the lack of consideration Quinnipiac has had regarding the best interests of international students.

“Because international students make up such a small percentage of the schools’ population, I think that what they think about or the questions they might have are not in the front of mind of what the university administration is thinking about,” Driscoll said.

Students that live in the U.S. don’t have to worry about anything other than the possible restrictions that the U.S. government imposes. On the other hand, international students have to look out for regulation implementations and changes, in two different countries.

Map of where the people quoted n this article live. Credits: Roberto Casillas

“We obviously have been focusing a lot on what’s happening in the U.S.,” Driscoll said. “Our policies and our regulations and our travel restrictions, but international students also have to consider and are also impacted by what’s going on in their own country. It’s double the stress.”

The pandemic surely caught everyone off-guard. No one at the University had ever experienced something similar to what transpired during 2020. For the people in charge of decision making at Quinnipiac the situation was unprecedented in their professional careers, so it’s understandable that the University as a whole had to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances. It would be naïve to think that everything would be handled without any changes or difficulties along the way.

“I think Quinnipiac handled it fine,” Haz said. “I think it was just confusing because I don’t think anyone really knew what was going on. I mean there’s nobody to blame, you can’t blame the school.”

Haz is happy that she was able to stay home to continue her degree without any major issues. However, there are many students who haven’t been able to return home in a long time. Isabella Diaz, the President of the International Student Association and a junior from the Dominican Republic is the perfect example.

“I haven’t been home since January,” Diaz said. “I couldn’t travel back home, and when travel opened back up in July, the virus was getting worse back home, so my mom basically told me to stay where I was.”

Diaz stayed with her aunt in New Jersey all summer before returning to campus in August.

“It’s been pretty hard,” Diaz said. “I’m finally going home and every time I think about it now, I get teary eyed because I’m finally going to be able to see all my family.”

Diaz was finally able to fly home two weeks ago the weekend prior to thanksgiving break. She met up with her family for the first time in almost a year.

Isabella Diaz reuniting with her mother upon arrival to the Dominican Republic after more than 10 months apart. Credits: Isabella Diaz

Looking ahead to the future, many international students are still in a position of uncertainty. Covid-19 cases are on the rise throughout the world, and with many flying back home in the coming weeks, there is no certainty that they will be able to fly back as planned.

“I’m not sure I’m worried about borders closing down again,” Diaz said. “But deep down that’s something that still always is in the back of my head, there is that small level of concern.”

With over two months before the planned start of in-person classes for the spring semester at Quinnipiac, Driscoll knows that there are a lot of questions about the status of the return of many international students. Questions that unfortunately not even she can answer.

“Even for students that are going home for winter break, I can’t say with 100 percent certainty that they are going to be able to come back,” Driscoll said. “That’s been a really difficult thing for me because as someone who is here to offer support and guidance, I don’t have the answers for things like this.”

Everyone at Quinnipiac was affected one way or another by the pandemic. But it’s important to highlight the struggle of the 1.8 percent of the student body. There aren’t a vast number of international students at Quinnipiac but, for them, the difficulties of the last eight months cannot be understated.

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