Make Hell Weeks Virtual: On COVID and the Plight of International Students

By: Sophie Ma

Hell weeks at Exeter are already stressful enough without the addition of back-and-forth travel and time-zone adjustments. But the choice to make students return to campus for a brief two weeks only creates more unnecessary burdens — especially for international students who don’t reside in the United States.

What stopped us from making hell weeks virtual this year? I understand that online learning is not without its downsides, but when the gap between our fall and winter breaks is only two weeks long, and particularly with COVID-19 transmission remaining a serious and prevalent concern, it seems more illogical to conduct classes in-person for hell weeks.

We became aware of the Omicron variant at the beginning of Thanksgiving break, which should’ve been an immediate sign to consider preventative measures. Even before the discovery of Omicron, the changing severity of the COVID situation was quite apparent. Many boarding schools at this time — like Lawrenceville and Hotchkiss — decided to turn to remote classes for the two weeks between breaks. I have no doubts that Exeter’s administration was also aware of the risks, given that we had returned to mask requirements near the end of the fall term as a cautionary measure. So why did we choose to return to campus for hell weeks? 

Personally, the experience of packing and unpacking, traveling back to Maryland, traveling back, and doing it all over again two weeks later was exhausting. But heavier than the physical exhaustion was the looming stress of repeated travel during a still very prevalent pandemic. Now, we are suffering for it, perched at a precarious state of vulnerability with COVID cases and close contacts growing in the Academy every day. 

When I look at the rising numbers on our dashboard, I am scared for the immunocompromised, the families of faculty who live on campus, and everyone around me. I am scared for myself and the people that I love. I have hope things will improve, but it would’ve been better if we hadn’t subjected ourselves to increased risk by traveling back for hell weeks in the first place. As we move back into in-person classes right now, my fear has only grown. 

I admit I also have selfish reasons for wishing we went remote for hell weeks. I miss Beijing. I am tired, and I want to be home. I’m sure many other international students feel the same way. Other than my mom, I haven’t seen anyone in my family since the pandemic started in 2019. My precious baby cousin has begun elementary school already (and most likely also forgotten my face). My beloved grandma and grandpa are turning 82 and 87 soon. I miss them all greatly and I am scared that at any moment, I will regret not being there with them for the last time. 

If the severity of the COVID situation continues, there’s no way for me to return and see my family until summer break due to the long quarantine periods required to enter China. In Beijing, it’s a minimum of 14 days in a hotel, 7 days at home, and another 7 days of monitoring. Had hell weeks been remote, the additional time would’ve finally allowed me and other international students to go home. I am privileged in that I have a home to return to in Maryland, but this isn’t the case for all international students. For those without a house or family members in America, the awkward timing of Thanksgiving and Christmas break can be an uncomfortable and stressful ordeal. Even with host families and city trips providing temporary solutions, it’s not the same as being home with your loved ones. Being amidst a pandemic only furthers these struggles.

In the case that we had gone remote for hell weeks and the situation seemed too precarious to return to Beijing, at least the lessened amount of travel would have helped the COVID situation. The sooner we can flatten the curve, the sooner things will return to normal, and the sooner international students will be able to move between campus and home freely. But as we remain in the situation that we are in now, international students are continuously left stranded in difficult circumstances, while the Academy fails to put us into consideration in their COVID response.

I’m aware that virtual hell weeks are not a perfect solution. Remote learning would either require changes to the schedule — which means more work for the schedulers and administration— or it would make class times awkward for students in other time-zones. I’m also aware not everyone’s home situations are ideal and comfortable places to be for six weeks. That is why I believe having optional virtual classes in the following years would be most ideal. For students who may want to return to campus, they can function as we do now by taking their classes in their dorms, while those choosing to remain off-campus can do so at home.

Whether COVID-19 is still a threat in the future or not, having the option of engaging in hell week classes remotely would be incredibly beneficial for international students. The awkward two-week timing can be costly to work around — international flights aren’t cheap, after all. Moreover, traveling internationally for long hours is exhausting and a miserable start to the stressful ordeal that is hell weeks. Is it truly necessary to demand all of this for only ten days of classes?

We cannot be sure that by this time next year, things will have returned to normal. I want this pandemic to end, and I want to be able to go home. Making hell weeks remote would make it easier for international students to deal with the two weeks between breaks, and it would also lower the risk of COVID transmissibility through travel: something we should all hope for and work towards. Please, Exeter: consider your international students — don’t continue to leave us stranded.