"A letter from International Students to Commerce International"
The pandemic has hindered the plans of many students this year to continue their studies overseas. In this blog series ‘A letter to Commerce International’ we reached out to a range of students impacted by travel restrictions to gain insight into their experiences studying remotely.
These are their responses.
Hello, my name is Thresya and I’m currently studying at De Haagse Hogeschool In Den Haag majoring in Finance and Control. I have been living in the Netherlands for the past 3 years.
When I started my classes online, it was really hard. I had no motivation to do the tasks because I was unable to differentiate between my workspace and my other space where I can relax. I felt lonely due to the hard lockdown during the first 4 months.
My university closed for the entire academic year. However, we are allowed to have exams onsite. The university also gives us an option whether we want to do the exam online or offline. The lectures are 100% conducted online. I had lots of assessments during the first quarter of COVID because the lecturers and tutors were also struggling with the transition back then.
In the Netherlands, restrictions were loosened during summer 2020, however, cases surged during winter and we undergo another lockdown. The last lockdown was quite long, it was about 6 months. Currently, there are no significant restrictions as the situation is getting better than the last few months and people are starting to get vaccinated.
Ever since COVID started, I developed better time management. I managed to be productive even it is only in my room and not going out for the whole day. I enjoy being alone since the pandemic started. I would like to travel to Eastern Europe once the borers are open. My plan was to go to Greece or Poland for the Summer holiday but got cancelled due to higher infections in some countries. Although going back to the old normal may not be feasible, I wish traveling would still be feasible in the new normal.
UNSW Commerce (International) Society 