As the new semester kicks in, universities once again welcome their students back in remote fashion. Students and professors are more prepared than they were at the beginning of the year, amidst all the mid-semester adjustments in course regulation, grading criteria, and university policies. For international students, however, the incoming semester marks another four months of struggling to become productive and salvaging disrupted academic plans.

When the outbreak first began in March, many universities around the world had closed the doors to most students. Locals had the convenient option of going back home, but international students had more difficult decisions to make. Those who were still back in their home countries were left with no choice but to remain there, and those already in their universities had to either find a place outside — which is difficult considering the resident status of international students — or return to their home countries. Whichever decisions they made, it would have grave consequences on how the next semesters (or years) of their studies would turn out. Students who are now currently in their country of study may have the luxury of nearly uninterrupted academic plans, but they sacrifice the time they could spend back home with their families and friends. With the tougher travel restrictions and expensive quarantine procedures, they stick with the safer resort of waiting until the situation subsides. 

However, international students who are in their home countries are at a worse predicament, stuck in limbo as the pandemic unfolds unpredictably. Especially in universities conducting hybrid lectures, they are left with fewer options on fully online courses, which do not necessarily stand on par with the quality of lectures conducted offline. Courses involving lab experiments or heavy hands-on work are critical to one’s academic curriculum yet difficult to completely convert online. Since these are mostly required courses for students inching towards graduation, those who are currently abroad are forced to settle with these courses being offered in arguably lower quality. Furthermore, students who are in dire need to begin their graduation thesis or research have no choice but to postpone their plans to a later semester after they return. 

But when that semester will come is still a big question. The last few months saw many countries impose stricter entry regulations and quarantine measures to all international passengers, especially to those who come from countries with a relatively rapid rise in coronavirus cases. Universities are also implementing tougher rules for those planning to stay in dormitories. Adding to the unpredictability of our current pandemic situation, students who manage to return successfully are very lucky to do so. The others, however, could only wait for a chance, and as the clock ticks, their student visas may have or will soon be expired. Having no visa will not only make it even harder to return; it could even jeopardize students’ current and future endeavors abroad. Students in this situation would then have to reapply for a new visa, but that also comes with its own hurdles. Visa issuance may still be indefinitely suspended in some countries, and the dissonance between the coronavirus status and response of where one lives and where one studies makes the process of obtaining a visa — let alone simply flying to another country — more complicated.

The growing distress that incessantly piles up from all these worries leaves international students outside their universities with practically no option but to readjust and reorganize what’s left of their academic plans, or to take a leave of absence so as to protect their remaining valuable semesters from going to waste. While the latter could be a productive use of time for internships or non-academic plans geared towards self-improvement, the problems that are set aside until things get relatively “normal” are only left hanging, but not resolved. Their student visas could still expire, their academic plans are left stalled, and with many companies across the world having to lay off employees in response to financial losses, internships may not be as abundant as expected. The longer it takes for students to return to campus, the more likely their problems could manifest into bigger or new ones.

As we try to stay safe from the coronavirus, the deep yearning for normalcy has spared no one. In the midst of the loneliness from being away from friends, the inconveniences of taking online classes in less conducive places, and the problems that arise from being outside the country where you study, international students stuck in their home countries can only cling hopelessly to the day when their biggest worry would be the sheer workload of their courses. Until then, they will have to make do with what is available, and choose the lesser of two evils of the options at hand.