International students face new difficulties during COVID-19 outbreak
Photo by Taylor Baker.
As Lee students finish the semester with online classes through Zoom, international students are facing new challenges.
Students like Elena Korepanova, a freshman international business major from Russia, lack the resources to fly home or visit family in the United States. Many have chosen to stay on campus.
“For now, I don’t have money and cannot afford to visit my extended family in Wisconsin,” said Korepanova. “I really need a place to stay, and that’s why I would love to stay on campus.”
While many international students do not have the means to return home this soon, others are struggling to rebook flights as travel restrictions expand.
“I had already booked a flight ticket home for May 12, which is the week after graduation, so I have to change my flight,” said sophomore music and public relations major from Malaysia Enid Mak. “There’s so much time and … right now, I just want to go home and take classes.”
For Mak, she is not only adjusting to the transition of online classes but is also balancing classes in a completely different time zone in Malaysia. She will be 12 hours ahead of her classmates and professor, who remain in Cleveland.
Despite the challenges of online classrooms, some international students are finding benefits in the unexpected.
“I can stay in one place and take all my classes, and it feels more intimate because you can see the professors and everyone’s faces and remember their names because it’s on the screen,” said Enid Mak
With assistance from Lee’s Diversity Council, international students stranded on campus are being supported with groceries and essentials.
“I get food from the food bank. The library set up a mini food bank for student workers. I have felt the support of the diversity committee because [they] have done a really good job of providing for international students because we don’t have anybody, but we have each other,” said junior biology pre-med major Michael Momoh, who is from Nigeria.
Even students who are returning home but need supplies have had their requests filled quickly, despite the daily changes of the pandemic.
“I asked Diversity Council about boxes … they replied to my email within that day,” said Mak. “I emailed Dr. Conn about going home, and he replied the next day even though it was a Saturday.”
For more information about assistance available for international students, click here.
