International Students Face Adversity During Remote Learning

By: Lauren Kim, Jacqueline Luque, Andrea Nystedt, Hannah Park, Catherine Wu

As classes resumed remotely for the first six weeks of the winter term, domestic and international students alike have faced challenges adapting to the time differences. 

The current schedule consists of three synchronous Zoom meetings and one asynchronous block during which assignments are due. In EST, class times can range from 8:10 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. before a free interval until class at 8:00 p.m. Some music modules meet from 3:05 p.m. to 3:50 p.m.

However, students from different time zones have been required to attend synchronous classes early in the morning or late at night, complicating their ability to learn.

“Some days I have classes until midnight, and another class at 8 a.m. the next day,” prep Nhan Phan from Vietnam said.

“I don't like my current schedule,” lower Joy Chi from Taiwan said. “My current schedule is completely flipped ( 'morning' classes at night and vice versa), which has not only made it difficult to learn—with classes being late at night—but also made it difficult to sleep thereafter.”

“It is hard to fully focus late at night and it gets very tiring a lot of the time,” prep Ye-won Lee from South Korea said. “I try to get to sleep right away after my night classes so that I can be awake for the morning class, but I can't get a deep sleep. I'm guessing it is because of the burden of having to go to sleep between fixed times to maintain a good sleep schedule.”

The effects of remote learning have extended beyond classes into clubs. “Finishing late night classes and waking up for Orchestra at 5 [a.m.] on a Saturday isn't very pleasing as you would imagine,” prep Gunn Sukhum from Thailand said. 

  “I don't really participate in clubs because of time-zones,” prep Akubah Ndubah said. “Most clubs are at an inconvenient time for me, so I just go without them.”

Although upper Jean-Francois Manigo Gilardoni from Switzerland routinely ends his day around 5 a.m. to accommodate for homework and clubs, he cited teacher awareness of time zone difficulties as valuable. “During my fall term, for all asynchronous assignments, one of my teachers gave international students a 12-hour window past the original deadline to hand in their homework. Having that extra time was a big help and allowed me to be on top of all my schoolwork and not be too stressed out.”

The stress from having a difficult schedule has troubled Lee, who “sometimes feel[s] frustrated when confusing deadlines or losing track of them because of miscalculating time zones or having assignments uploaded when sleeping.”

Ndubah emphasized concerns about academic support being impaired by the time zone difference. “I don’t really have any access to help from my teachers because of time-zone differences so I’ve landed in some tricky situations where I’m confused about how to do an assignment but there’s no one to ask.”

Senior Felix Yeung from Hong Kong attends classes in the night and sleeps throughout the day. Due to loud construction in his apartment complex, Yeung moved into a hotel to avoid interference with his schedule and learning. “I really think that is a sign of class privilege on my part, that I am able to have the financial resources to do that. If a student from a low-income background had to deal with construction, midnight school and didn't have the resources to move elsewhere, that would be a real disaster,” Yeung said. “I think that teachers, and the Academy at-large, should be especially attuned to the different challenges that students might be facing. I am very fortunate—others may not be.”

Upper Emily Wang from Australia has taken three asynchronous courses to lessen her required synchronous meetings. “The only downside is that I don’t get as much interaction with classmates, which is a little disappointing but that’s the best we can do.”

“With my current schedule, I have a huge amount of work to do with nothing to break up my day and no one to work with,” Wang said. “I just need to get a little bit more used to managing the workload, and try and find ways to keep myself involved with the rest of the school.”

“Even though it's really good to give consistency, such as a regular amount of work, to get people into patterns, I do wish there was more space in classes for people to express where they are, how they are —to be together, to have a social space where we can just talk,” Yeung said. “It can feel very isolating to have things going on, positive or negative, and lack a space to share that or take stock." 

The combination of remote learning, difficult schedules and disconnect with the Academy has impacted students’ mental health. 

“Health services feel like they have been completely closed off this term, mainly because counselling services are not offered internationally. That, combined with not being able to stay in touch with my friends or even family, has been very detrimental to my mental health,” Chi said. 

“Personally, I feel like we all know there is the option of reaching out to counselors, faculty, etc., but I do not believe the administration has reached out enough to the student body, since online learning is troubling for many,” prep Amber Zou added. “I would like to see more initiatives done striving towards mental wellness.” 

“I think a lot of us rely on Exeter as a place where we can solely focus on learning, without the distraction of those elements of our lives that can have a negative effect on our mental health and wellness. Exeter is where things can be temporarily pushed aside, where we have, to some extent, a common baseline,” Yeung said. “Right now, not everyone is struggling to the same degree, but we all have new things to manage. I think that, if anything, we should be there for one another during this difficult time.”