[Editor’s note: As this story was being edited, the provincial government announced their latest guidelines for post-secondary institutions in the fall; it’s important to note that all interviews in this piece were conducted with students before those details were announced.]
On March 8 of this year, provincial health officer Bonnie Henry said that post-secondary institutions should prepare for a full return to campus in September. That was almost two months ago, and BC’s COVID numbers have been consistently bad since then. Also since she made that announcement, flights from Pakistan and India that would carry international students—a large source of revenue for the college—were grounded for 30 days on April 22.
For the last month, I’ve been busy dialling the numbers of Camosun students to get their thoughts on coming pack to campus. Some can’t wait, others are unsure, and some want to come back but have a safety checklist they want to see addressed first.
Whatever your thoughts are on coming back in September, the pandemic has certainly taught us that education is an essential service. And even though the vaccine rollout should ensure everyone who wants to be vaccinated is by September, some students are still nervous about returning to campus, as we all struggle to come to terms with the fear that has been instilled in us over the past year.
First-year student Kunal Jain, who is getting a post-graduation diploma in Business Administration, laughs when I ask him if he’s scared of the prospect of going to campus for class in the fall. Jain left India on April 9 to come to Canada for classes in September; thirteen days later, flights from India to Canada were suspended.
“We cannot miss college on the basis that we have COVID,” he says.
Jain wants classes to start now; he doesn’t want to wait. But college means more than going to class for him. It means networking, and it means playing basketball or cricket with his buddies. He feels that it’s important to wear a mask, sanitize, and be cautious, but says that, as an international student, education is only part of coming to Canada.
“You come here for [an] exposure of activities to enjoy with college life,” he says. “And I’m going to miss them.”
Jain says the process of travelling to Canada “went perfectly fine.”
“The system was good,” he says.
First-year University Transfer student Zoe Engel loves learning online. It’s not that Engel doesn’t like being on campus—she does, and says that, ideally, she would like sections to be blended, so that students have both online and in-person aspects to their courses in September. But she has inattentive ADHD, which makes trying to listen in a classroom really difficult.
“I just find because I kind of do my online work whenever I want, you know, it’s a lot easier for me to actually do the work when I can get myself to focus on it,” she says. “Post-secondary, it’s not made for neurodivergent people.”
First-year post-graduation Business Administration diploma student Roshni Roshni says that while she’s really excited to get back on campus, she doesn’t feel it’s safe.
“I’m afraid,” she says.
Roshni, who is specializing in accounting in her diploma, was in India when we spoke. She needed to quarantine in Vancouver, and all self-isolation plans from international students need to be submitted to, and approved by, Camosun International. But, prior to the ban, she couldn’t get a flight from India to Victoria, only India to Vancouver, and she says the college can’t send her a letter of support unless she quarantines in Victoria. They will still approve the plan, she says, they just can’t assist students with out-of-city quarantine accommodation.
“I know that the support letter is not mandatory right now for travelling,” she says. “But Camosun has to approve my quarantine plan… I was worried if I don’t take the college quarantine plan, then what would be the consequences at the airport?”
(Roshni spoke to Nexus on March 16 and came to Canada on April 9, before the flight ban.)
Jain says that the “astonishing” financial barrier of quarantine is an additional expense that international students have to incur, but it was still surprising to him, given Canada’s strong economy.
“I understand they were discouraging the travel,” he says. “There are other ways you can discourage travel. It seems a bit harsh for us.”
In Canada, violating any quarantine instructions can lead to a $750,000 fine and/or up to six months in jail.
Engel says the thought of going back in September is anxiety provoking, particularly because with the limited amount of people in her life that she does see now, she certainly won’t be able to continue seeing them once classes are in session.
“I’m nervous about it,” she says. “It’s about all I can really say on that. It’s freaky, you know? It’s really freaky; I didn’t think that we would be going back so soon.”
Some people simply cannot learn online. When Nexus reached out to students using the Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) app, Camosun student Evalyn Braybrook wrote, “I’m not a fan of online school tbh. not sure if it’ll be safe but at least I can learn if we’re in person”.
Engel says that a partial online or mixed format, with half the class going one day for in-person and the other half going the other, would be her ideal for September. Since moving online, her grades have “never been better,” she says, and going back to campus all at once doesn’t seem productive to her.
“The whole, ‘Okay, everyone’s going back at once’… just seems very counter-productive,” she says.
Engel says allowing students the option to stay online “until we are more in the clear” is a key thing the college could to do make the transition easier on students as well as staff.
“Especially because there are probably students who are immunocompromised, as well,” she says. “Extremely unfair to send them into, you know, a cesspool.”
Third-year business student Ashley Reid says she’s looking forward to going back, and any reservations she has are slim. Even with cases as high as they are, she would feel “pretty okay” with in-person learning, she says.
“Personally, I learn better in person, so I’m actually looking forward to it, because I can be back in the classroom, and that’s where I learn better,” she says.
Reid says she is a little bit concerned about safety but she points out that she’s not the only one who learns better in person.
“For other people that learn better in person, because I know I’m not the only one, it’s better for us if we can get back to campus, so that part of it is making me look forward to it,” she says.
Sophia Pius responded to Nexus on the CCSS app that she was “excited and nervous at the same time! One has been away for so long hence it is overwhelming”.
Celina Fung Wachal said “I like online and limited campus time”.
Reid points out that people need to follow college guidelines, whatever they may be at that time—physical distancing, wearing masks—when returning to campus.
“As far as cohorts… I’m not quite sure how it would work, just because everybody’s in so many different classes and things,” she says.
First-year Marketing student Sharda Mondal came to Canada to learn remotely because her living conditions at home made it difficult to learn. Now, she’s in Victoria living with her boyfriend; she says she loves the city and can’t wait to get back to campus. Throughout all the rocky times COVID has brought, that excitement never faultered.
“When I heard the news, I was so excited, and I am still excited,” she says.
But, excitement aside, Mondal says there is a feeling in the back of her mind, one that makes her wonder how things will work out. But she tries to not think about it.
“Not exactly anxiety, but maybe a little bit cautious and nervous,” she says. “There is some news right now that teenagers and young generations are also being infected. No matter what age you are, you have to be very, very careful, so I’m just wondering what kind of precautions will the college and school be taking?”
Roshni says that having to do something for her studies that she doesn’t feel is safe is causing her conflict.
“On one hand, I’m excited to return to campus, but on the other hand,” she says, “I’m very much afraid because two of my friends in British Columbia, they got COVID.”
Both of her friends recovered within a couple of weeks, she says, but they are still feeling “very weak,” which makes her worry about long-term symptoms.
“After [recovering],” she says, “that’s what I’m worried about.”
One of the precautions Mondal wants to see in addition to mask-wearing and physical distancing is daily temperature checks and the use of sanitization devices for those on campus.
“When you enter,” she says, “maybe have a system that will just spray on your whole body… when my dad worked back in India, they had that in their factory. Wherever he enters, top to bottom is just sprayed.”
Mondal says that there needs to be an online option so that students who aren’t feeling well can still access the class beyond just getting notes from a friend, because some students would likely need to miss four or five classes if they need to isolate.
“Absolutely,” she says. “An option given to students so that they can choose to not go to the classroom if they’re feeling something health-wise.”
But for Mondal, that extends beyond just physical health.
“Just feeling anxiety,” she says. “Just not feeling good to go to the classroom, like a blended-mixture option available to the students.”
But Reid stresses that the decision about whether or not to attend class in person should be left to Camosun.
“I know the school takes all the precautions that it needs to,” she says. “I’m not super worried about it. “
In the world of COVID-19, things change faster than they ever have, and in the world of social media, that’s saying something. Send a message from the Camosun caf and your cousin in Auckland, New Zealand can read it three seconds later. But we’re not in New Zealand, a country that has all but completely eradicated the virus, and recently held the largest concert since the pandemic hit, with over 50,000 people in attendance at Aukland’s Eden Park. (Over in Australia, 78,113 people recently attended a football game.)
So, here on Vancouver Island, the question remains: if things need to change, how much notice is reasonable to give students before the start of the term, or—God forbid—in the middle of the term? It’s not exactly easy—or cheap—for international students to get here right now.
Reid says that, for her, only a couple of days notice to students is necessary before the college goes back in person, because everything is changing so quickly with the pandemic that by this point, people need to get used to sudden change.
“As far as timeline of information, I think, depending on when they were going to send us back… I don’t think I’d have to know super far in advance,” she says, “just because I know things are changing really fast. Like, a couple days’ notice would be nice.”
But Mondal, who is also in Victoria, would want a little bit longer than that.
“A week or two,” she says, “so that we make sure we are well prepared to enter the college.”
Engel says that lots of notice, as the college has already done, is key.
“I think if they had done it any later it would have been a bit more anxiety provoking,” she says.
Reid—whose productivity and grades are both down since beginning remote work—says that while she can learn from home and has done it before in secondary school, the most difficult part is having the lines blurred between work and home life, which makes it harder to relax when it’s time to do so, and, sometimes, harder to work when it’s time for that.
“There’s not as much distinction between ‘This is when you should be focusing on learning’ and ‘This is when you should be focusing on relaxing and being with your family,’” she says. “That’s kind of blurred when you’re at home all day doing the same thing.”
Engel says that she has noticed a toll on her mental health, as well as her health in general, since beginning to think about returning to campus.
“I miss my friends so much,” she says. “And my family, because I haven’t been able to see them… I want to go back to school, and I want everything to get normal, but it’s also terrifying now, because it’s been so long.”