The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) effectively shut down travel from March until now, and while travel is still happening, it is very regulated. International students that attend Colorado Mesa University (CMU) generally stayed in the United States.
Vegard Soernes, CMU junior and sports management major, said that he came to CMU for the cycling team. He wasn’t able to go home during the summer.
“It’s been a year since I’ve been home. During the summer, they banned all international travel into the US for people without a citizenship, but then a lot of schools came together and said ‘hey, we need international students, they contribute [a lot into the economy] during the year,’” Soernes said. “Then they turned it on the 10th of August, right as summer was ending, so I was scared to go home in case I couldn’t get back into the US again,” Soernes said.
Soernes is from Norway and is planning on going home for winter break, where he will have to quarantine for 10 days upon arrival. Norway is handling cases well, mostly because of the small population and how spread out they are from one another. Soernes stated that it would be better for him to stay in Grand Junction to finish the semester because he is actively paying for the experience of being in the US.
“[Norway was] panicking because they had 50 new cases in the country and I’m like ‘well, they got 50 new cases in [Grand Junction] yesterday.’ I feel like they were more strict in the start, and at the end of the day I feel like everybody kinda gets tired of it and starts slacking on the deadlines,” Soernes said.
Soernes stated that traveling back into the US, he will just have to quarantine and test, which will be easier for him because he is off campus. Other international students might have to quarantine in a hotel before they can go back to the dorms. CMU is planning on holding in-person classes in the Spring, but that is tentative. Because of the uncertainty, Soernes is exploring the idea of taking the semester off and traveling if he cannot attend classes in person.
Daisuke Takanaka, a junior business major from Japan, will also be going home for the winter break. There are no travel restrictions, but there is a quarantine flying into Japan. Travelers can choose to do the 14 days at the airport or at home. Takanaka is still deciding where to do the quarantine, as it is a 12 hour drive home from the airport for him.
“In airports, everyone had a mask, but it was very cramped. I will quarantine in Japan, which is still unplanned, but coming back to the United States, I will quarantine off campus and get tested,” Takanaka said.
Some international students will not be going home for Thanksgiving or winter break, partially due to COVID-19. Travel has been iffy for students coming in and out of the country and many want to make sure that they are being safe.
“We sent out a survey several weeks ago to all our international students to get a general idea about how plans for Thanksgiving are and who will stay in the U.S. and who plans to travel outside the U.S. We also want to be able to provide small events and programming for students who stay in Grand Junction and/or on campus during the break. Many students have already emailed me with very specific questions related to their situation,” Annie Gingerich, Director of International Student Admissions and Programs, said.
Gingerich stated that students are asked to return no later than Monday, January 11, so that they are able to quarantine for the appropriate amount of time (14 days) before returning to classes on January 25.
They will be tested twice, once at the seven day mark, then again at the end of quarantine before they are allowed to return to the CMU campus. On campus international students will either quarantine in their residential halls or be put into a hotel and meal plans will be starting January 18 so those students quarantining on campus do not have to wait until the semester starts.
Additional details are released to the international students as soon as they are available.
COVID-19 cases are at their highest in the US, and every country is being wary and instating preventative measures to keep their citizens safe. There are many possibilities for the Spring semester, but the general consensus between international students is that they are happy they can visit their homes and keep attending CMU.
