Students from across the globe have spoken up about the various problems caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
We spoke to several students from France, Romania, The Netherlands and the United States of America to learn more about how their lives have changed in the past month during this global crisis.
The Netherlands
Ariadna Mironeanu and Catrinel Haisan, both 20, are second year Hotel Management students at university in Breda, Netherlands.
Although they had secured their ‘dream placements’ which were supposed to take place in Spain this summer, the current situation might take away this opportunity from them.
Catrinel said: “We still don’t know what is going to happen to our placements, they are either going to be postponed or even canceled, but we haven’t been told yet.
“There is a lot of uncertainty right now.”
The cancellation of these placements and job opportunities may lead to serious financial losses for many students, Catrinel adds.
She says: “We aren’t struggling financially yet, but I’m sure there will be a huge economical disadvantage for students in the future.”
Aria adds that the risk of getting infected with coronavirus is high in The Netherlands as workers and students travel between cities.
She added: “Our government is leaning towards the herd immunity theory because The Netherlands is a transitive country, a lot of people travel by trains to go to work or university.
“Although Breda is a small town, a lot of students from other cities and different countries come here to study, so there are a lot of people that can be in contact with one another.”
United States of America
Besides being a student passionate about Psychology and Humanities, Dragos Ilie, 24, is also a professional guitarist that participates at festivals and competitions all around the world.
Just before the COVID-19 had been declared a worldwide pandemic, he was expected to have an important competition in China this summer, which was immediately canceled.
He said: “I had so many events written down on my calendar and now they’re all crossed out.
“I was supposed to go in China this summer, so when that thing happened, I was like ‘okay, maybe go somewhere else on this planet where I can have a competition, and I’ve chosen Italy.
“But not just Italy, I’ve chosen the most affected area in Italy; it also got canceled, of course.”
Although his plans for the summer have been changed, he is trying to focus on developing projects and instances where he can still play guitar – whether that is holding a live concert in front of a web cam, or teaching guitar lessons online.
He added: “Rather than thinking about it, or getting mad, scared or frustrated, I can just focus on the things that are under my control.”
France
Miriam Moukafih, 20, studies at a university in Paris, France.
Her family is in Italy and therefore, whilst she is concerned about coursework and meeting deadlines, she is also worried about how people back home are coping with the current situation.
They live in the most affected area in Italy – Lombardie, near Bergamo.
She confessed she has been struggling with anxiety and she can barely focus on completing her assignments.
“I started to write in my diary again. It really helps.
“I write down all of my thoughts and I then read it and try to analyse it, to understand my emotions.”
“All the habits I’ve had before the coronavirus outbreak I tried to do them while staying indoors.”
She added: “I sometimes wake up in the morning and hope this was all just a nightmare.
“But it is not. You go to bed thinking about coronavirus, and then you wake up with the same thought.”
Besides that, she said she was dissapointed with president Macron’s first speech about the pandemic, as the first point he made was regarding the ‘municipal elections’ (fr. les municipales) which continued to run as usual.
“This year’s election had the lowest percentage of people who actually went and vote,” she added.
It was only after the situation got considerably worse in France when the government decided to go into lockdown.
“Macron held another speech and he repeated at least ten times ‘we are at war’ (fr. Nous sommes en guerre).”
Romania
Catinca Dobos, 20, a student from Romania, is concerned that people are not taking the problem seriously enough by refusing to conform to the authorities’ instructions.
She said: “My advice for everyone around the world who is facing the crisis is to first of all, listen to the authorities and respect the rules – because that is why they are an authority and that is why rules are made.”
“We need to not be selfish and stay at home even though it is not fun. Nobody wants to stay at home for 30 days.
“This is not a game, you know. You’re playing with fire.”
Catinca recognises people are responding at one extreme or another, and says balance is key in such stressful times.
She added: “There are either people that are panicking or people that are not taking it seriously enough.
“It is true that you can’t 100 per cent disconnect.
“Even though I wake up and I tell myself that today I’m going to do a workout and read a book, you are not completely disconnected to the situation.”
She also recognizes the atmosphere itself creates anxiety, panic and uncertainty about the future:
She said: “It’s an overall anxiety that affects everyone.
“But we need to focus on what we have to do: wash your hands, stay at home and be positive, but not coronavirus positive.”
By Olimpia Zagnat