On August 16, U.S.A Twin sisters Julieta and Natalia Castillo washed their hands at the Norment Early Childhood Education Center in the Harbor City, California. Students and school Board members celebrate the first day of school together. Visual center drawing
Global international students are about to usher in the third new school year under the shadow of COVID-19. Accompanied by Europe and America Overseas Study With the resurgence of the epidemic in popular areas, how to safely study abroad and complete their studies in a special context has once again become the focus of attention of school authorities and parents, teachers and students.
The reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Network recently interviewed many Chinese students who started new semesters in different countries. He found that the gradual recovery of offline teaching once gave international students hope to return to normal campus life, but the spread of the mutated COVID-19 virus brought new uncertainty to the global epidemic prevention. Schools in many countries have or plan to stop offline teaching, Distance teaching is still the mainstream teaching mode at present.
Chinese students are more willing to attend classes than last year
Li Wei (not his real name), who is about to enter the second year of undergraduate education in the new academic year, once applied for suspension for one year because he was worried that distance online teaching would affect the learning effect. As the new semester approaches, after some ideological struggle, he decides to transfer from Hong Kong to a school in Britain in September. However, Li Wei felt a little helpless recently due to the surge of confirmed cases in many places in the UK due to mass gatherings during the summer holidays, music festivals and carnivals. According to the existing epidemic prevention policy of a college in London where Li Wei lives, even if he has gone to the UK now, it is probably difficult for him to take classes in person.
Liu Tianqi (not his real name), who arrived in the United States in August to start a new semester, can only accept online teaching in his dormitory at present. Studying computer related majors, he was one of the lucky ones who did not refuse to sign up for the "Presidential Decree 10043" and successfully bought a ticket to report to the United States on time. Many of his classmates were refused to sign again and again and were still forced to stay in China. Liu Tianqi told the reporter of the China Youth Daily - China Youth Network: "The experience of online classes in the United States is very different from that in China. In the United States, you can usually meet with your classmates for group discussions, which is much better than staying up late for online classes alone in China."
The curriculum, the property to be disposed of abroad and the high rent, and the requirements of the domestic settlement policy on the time of studying abroad have all become the practical reasons for overseas students to return to the country of studying abroad to continue their studies. On July 27, CNBC quoted a education The statistics report of the technology company reported that as many as 60% of international students said that the COVID-19 epidemic had not changed their arrangements for going to school overseas. A Korean student said that she "didn't know when the COVID-19 epidemic would end completely, but go abroad The plan of studying abroad cannot be stagnated all the time.
More epidemic prevention risks exist in offline study abroad
International students hope to attend classes at school, but the epidemic situation in some countries determines that offline learning still has a great risk of epidemic prevention.
Take the United States as an example. At present, the epidemic situation of COVID-19 in the United States is at a new peak, and the confirmed cases and the patients who have become seriously ill are showing an obvious trend of youth. Many schools have large-scale isolation and large-scale confirmed cases of COVID-19. According to the report of the U.S. Capitol Hill on August 26, as of the morning of that day, at least 90000 students in 19 states of the United States had been quarantined because they had tested positive for COVID-19 or had had close contact with positive people. The University of Pittsburgh and many other schools announced that they would change their teaching methods to online courses, and even delayed the start of school.
In view of the fact that the US political circles are still unable to reach an agreement on whether to implement the mask order on campus, Yale University, Cornell University and other US universities have announced to implement the "mandatory mask order" on their own, and Liu Tianqi's school is also among them. According to Liu Tianqi, in addition to forcing students to wear masks, the school also set up free nucleic acid testing places, requiring students to conduct nucleic acid testing every seven days, and only after passing the test can they enter the campus library and other places. Liu Tianqi was relieved by a series of epidemic prevention measures taken by the school.
However, as the United States considered promoting the third dose of the new coronal vaccine, Liu Tianqi, who had already received two doses of domestic vaccine in China, fell into a new "dilemma", and he was very worried about the frequent exposure of negative news about overseas vaccines. What makes many international students anxious is that at present, American colleges and universities have announced to adjust the scope of approval of the new crown vaccine, and only approved Pfizer vaccine, Modena vaccine and Johnson&Johnson vaccine approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Johns Hopkins University, which explicitly stated that "international students who have received local vaccines do not need to be re vaccinated after arriving at school", now re stipulates that students who have received vaccines authorized by the World Health Organization but not approved by FDA need to be re vaccinated.
Foreign students should adopt correct methods to solve difficulties
Security is not just about the epidemic. According to the latest Safety Bulletin for Chinese Students Studying Abroad (2021.8.3-8.10) issued by the Overseas Study Service Center of the Ministry of Education of China, telecommunications fraud and social security are also the main "event types" affecting the safety of international students. The Chinese Consulate General in Toronto released a message on August 7, reminding the vast number of Chinese citizens in the consular area, including Chinese students, to be alert to all kinds of telecommunications fraud, to ensure personal and property safety, and stressing that the Chinese embassies and consulates abroad will not notify the parties by telephone or telephone recording that there are documents and packages to be collected, or that domestic cases are involved, Nor will they ask for personal bank card or account information from anyone by phone.
At a live broadcast event held by the Overseas Study Service Center of the Ministry of Education in mid August, An Wuqing, a police officer of the National Anti fraud Center, suggested that overseas students should keep in mind the "three no one more" principle to prevent telecom network fraud, namely, do not click on unknown links, do not trust unfamiliar calls, do not disclose personal information, and verify more transfers and remittances. Don't panic even if you are cheated. You should sort out relevant materials and report to the police in time.
Epidemic background, online learning, cultural differences, social barriers... Under multiple pressures, foreign students should also pay attention to properly handle their anxiety and depression. Many Chinese students interviewed mentioned to the reporter of China Youth Daily and China Youth Online that the school has set up different forms of psychological counseling services to encourage students to resolve negative emotions in a reasonable way as soon as possible.
Qiao Zhihong, secretary of the Party Committee of the Psychology Department of Beijing Normal University and director of the Student Psychological Consultation and Service Center, suggested that students should be sensitive to their anxiety and adjust their state accordingly. In terms of clothing, food, housing and transportation, it is necessary to find a suitable lifestyle and establish a social support system in the new environment. If you find that you cannot solve psychological problems in your own way, don't be shy about asking for help. You can seek professional advice, consulates or embassies, or online help from relevant domestic psychological counseling institutions.
I believe that everything will gradually become better
Zhu Jiale, who is studying for a doctorate in engineering at the University of Sydney, Australia, focuses on the impact of vegetation on slope reinforcement. He told reporters that offline laboratory courses are very important in the study of science and engineering majors. At present, Sydney requires all teaching staff, including teachers, not to return to school without authorization, which has greatly disrupted the research process of Zhu Jiale. This teaching method has a great impact on the sense of experience and participation in learning and research, and also greatly reduces the effect of understanding and mastering knowledge. In order to minimize the negative impact, Zhu Jiale maintains an online communication frequency of "one meeting a week" with his tutor, and updates information at any time.
Zhu Jiale participated in coordinating masks and other materials between China and Australia last year. He said with emotion that although studying abroad still faces many difficulties in the context of the epidemic, the situation of Sydney's local medical supplies has improved significantly compared with last year, and the local Chinese consulate is also constantly paying attention to the situation of foreign students. Zhu Jiale, who is also the chairman of the China Student Union in New South Wales and the University of Sydney Student Union, is now actively building online communication space for students who cannot return to Australia due to the influence of border control policies, so that students in need can get the help they need as soon as possible. He always believed that everything would gradually improve.
