Queens International Graduates Face Tough Choices

Imagine having to deal with COVID-19 while living thousands of kilometers and sometimes continents away from your friends and family.

That is the situation in which international students in Queens find themselves.

Each year, Queens hosts approximately 25 of the 130 or so students from Europe, Asia and South America who come to learn on the South Shore.

When governments began to crack down on travel, those students had to make the decision to return to their home countries or ride out the pandemic in Nova Scotia.

Thirteen of the 27 students decided to stay and continue their education in the province.

Queens home-stay coordinator Ashley Saulnier says those who chose to stay are covering the material required.

“Whether they were in their own country or they were here in Liverpool, everyone was doing the same thing.”

But Saulnier points out, ensuring students complete their education was just one concern.

“Giving a student the most authentic Canadian experience as they could have as Nova Scotians or Canadians in general. There’s a lot of differences between us and how culturally, other people live in their countries.”

Usually, that would involve visits to cultural sights and participation in group events with other host families and the community.

But, because of COVID-19 restrictions, hosts have had to get creative.

International Students Program South Shore coordinator Carolyn Bolivar-Getson says online video calls have been a good way of ensuring students and hosts stay in touch.

“I think even the technology that we’re using to connect with our students, virtually, works well. I’ve watched teachers reach out to the students, even with some of their classroom friends and have virtual chats with them.”

Bolivar-Getson praises the work being done by the host-families and the home-stay coordinators under trying conditions.

She says sometimes maintaining connections is as easy as checking-in through socially-distant visits.

“You see a big smile when you drive in the yard because you know, that they’re not out doing things like they used to and they love to see someone.”

Bolivar-Getson says in some ways, the restrictions are creating tighter bonds between host families and their students.

She says on a normal morning, hosts would be off to work and students would head to school, only re-grouping in the evening to catch up on the day’s events.

Now, with many people working from home, most of the day is spent together.

“And they’re here, you’re helping them with their homework. It’s just a different environment, and I’m not saying it’s a bad environment by no means, but, it definitely has brought family units closer together.”

Bolivar-Getson says after graduating, many international students continue on to universities in Nova Scotia and most would be looking for flights back to their countries of origin at this point in the year.

Because travelling during COVID-19 comes with a raft of concerns, some of those students may choose to stay in Nova Scotia for the summer rather than traveling home for the break.

Each year, the centres for education across the province survey international students to learn how many plan to attend post-secondary in Nova Scotia.

Bolivar-Getson says while she waits for those numbers, she’s working to line up host families for the summer.

“We will have to survey each individual one to see if they will return home or if they will be here. We will have to make accommodations to see if home-stay families will host them over the summer. It’s not black and white at this point. But we’re gathering all that information to find out, but the students will be very well cared for if they have to stay.”

Bolivar-Getson says students have come to the South Shore from 36 different countries, and new countries are added each year.

She’s optimistic coronavirus restrictions will ease up before her organization welcomes another 130 students for the 2020-21 orientation at White Point Resort in September.

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson