by Nathalia Alvarez-Vaca
When Arushi Tibrewal, a freshman letters and sciences student from Kolkata, West Bengal, India, came to UMD, her parents were not allowed to drop her off at the university themselves due to the pandemic. Instead, they dropped Tibrewal off at an airport and she got on a plane to D.C. alone.
“I know it caused them a lot of worry since the flight from India to D.C. is 16 to 17 hours.” Tibrewa said.
Tibrewal, whose high school exams got pushed back two to three times and SAT got postponed for months, is just one of many international students whose academic careers became riddled with uncertainty and worry when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
The Institute of International Education reported that nearly 40,000 international students deferred their enrollment at U.S. universities and colleges due to the pandemic. That caused a 43% decline of international students attending U.S. institutions since 2019, the report stated.
International students at the University of Maryland make up nearly 30% of graduate students and nearly 5% of the undergraduate student population, said Kathryn Hopps, the faculty co-advisor for the International Student Union and program director for experiential learning in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences.
Takehiro Iizuka, a sixth-year Ph.D student from near Tokyo studying Second Language Acquisition, said that the pandemic made his duties as a teaching assistant and researcher difficult.
The one question on his mind at the time was, “What am I going to do?” He had put his required research project on language and communication skills on hold because it required him to collect data in person — impossible during the pandemic. He also began reconceptualizing the classes he taught because the teaching materials for his two Japanese classes didn’t work in an online environment, he said.
“After the pandemic, I am able to appreciate the normal life more, because I was taking for granted the normal life of doing class in person.” Iizuka said. “After the pandemic, I feel it is precious to live in a normal life.”
Kichan Park, a fifth-year Ph.D student from South Korea also studying Second Language Acquisition, worried not only about his research project but the wellbeing of his two elementary schoolers.
Park said he worried for his children’s mental health as they stayed at home from school, missing out on key experiences.
For him, the pandemic wasn’t as bad because he could call his parents weekly and get to know other students through the internet.
“Technology might have relieved the impact of the pandemic greatly,” Park said. “It’s frustrating, but the pandemic opened up a new world so we can meet other people virtually.”
Featured image: Takehiro Iizuka, right, in Hikone, Japan wearing a yukata – a Japanese robe. Photo courtesy of Iizuka.