it has been almost one year since the covid19 hit the world and we are still quarantined. The pandemic has yielded plenty of problems - thousands of people are unemployed, many international students could not return to their home countries and most importantly, more than 1 million people lost their lives ...
this would have a great mental impact on our life, especially as a teenager when you have many things to worry about in school like GPA, college application, and standardized tests. schooling could be different for each area, depending on the rate of covid19 cases. not all schools will resume on-campus learning this fall, but some will and others may follow in the near future. No matter when your campus reopens, you'll see changes designed to keep us safe, such as spacing desks farther apart. in California, since the number of coronavirus cases is increasing constantly, we have to keep studying online via Zoom. imagine spending half of your day on-screen or not being able to hang out with your friends after school. how sad, boring, tiring,... despite all the hardship and frustrated feelings, we are going through this together not only for ourselves but also for the community.
i know that some international students, including me, are still stuck in other countries and would not be able to return back to their native country due to the pandemic. we are together on the same boat, struggling with the same issue and there’s basically nothing we can do but to shelter in place and follow hygiene instructions. some schools are reopening, some schools are not. i personally feel very grateful as my school reopens the dorm for international students who are stuck in the US to have a chance to gather and “have fun” during the school year after a “painful” summer. i will tell you a bit about how my school deals with the covid19 to let us be on campus. all the faculty and adults who live on campus are doing great jobs to keep us safe. we were asked to have a covid19 tested negative result before entering the school. then, we would have to quarantine in our rooms for 14 days where we would not be able to interact with anyone. food was brought to our rooms by the way. it sounds super boring, but it’s not that bad, honestly. in order to make sure that we are not only physically healthy but also mentally feeling good, they run some fun activities or games through Zoom such as Kahoot, Pictionary, and two truths one lie. the most appealing part is that there are several prizes for winners and participants. this, to me, is a great way to bond our boarding community together during this corona time.
on the last day of quarantine, we got a covid19 test once again. after that, we are finally free... but not free. we can freely walk around the campus and hang out with other people from our family group - a group of 2 to 4 students, living in the same space and sharing the same bathrooms - but we are not allowed to do several things, which is expected. we have to remain 6ft apart from other people who are not in our family group and we can’t go anywhere off-campus. when it comes to classes, my school’s system has changed a lot to cope with the current situation and i believe every school does too. some schools offer lesson recordings for international students who are in their home countries, but some schools don’t. for those of you who have to attend class in different timezones, especially in Asian countries, when you have to stay up all night to study, causing your sleeping schedule to mess up, that’s awful. i’m really sorry about that and i hope that this won’t last too long.
i’m not sure if you are experiencing the same problems as i am but i feel extremely stressed when studying online like i just can’t pay full attention to classes through the screen all day. i’m also having a hard time getting things done online since i’m not a tech person. it takes me forever to make a video on Flipgrid or use Photoshop to edit things or read everything from the screen. the longer i work, the more stressed i get, so what i do to tackle this problem is to get some fresh air. fortunately, my school has a huge hill and a lot of open spaces where we can go for a hike and chill out after school to release some stress. i think it is very important for all of us to go outside, walk around, do some stretching, and enjoy the fresh air after a busy day of work. i do it all the time and it actually helps me feel better afterward. but don’t forget to wear your mask and sanitize your hands when you go out! or you can try to meditate as well, there are several videos on youtube that could help you feel better and calm down during this stressful time.
what’s more, all sports events are canceled in the US, except the NBA in which they get to stay, practice, and compete in Disney’s resorts (that’s crazy, isn’t it?) anyway, for the rest of us in the US, we don’t have many chances to practice sports since most gyms still remain to close. And once again, i’m glad that my school still manages to provide some sports clinics for students. Every sport is carried outdoor which sounds both exciting and tragic for us. playing indoor sports outdoors is not easy at all; the most challenging part is the wind and bumpy ground which is kind of dangerous. as a professional badminton player, i always try my best to look up for fun outdoor badminton training to share with my friends and coach. although we can’t have all we want, that’s all good. at least, students could exercise and hang out with their friends (6ft apart). something is better than nothing.
all in all, we are in the middle of the pandemic, things are going crazy, and school is extremely stressful. Therefore, we better take care of ourselves and the people around us by staying active, getting good rest, and following the safety guidelines. you got this!!!