Over the course of the semester, IU has seen a 24% percent drop in enrollment of international students. IU junior Srishti Goyal is from New Delhi, India and chose to return to IU for this past fall and spring semester.
“India is not like heaven or something,” Goyal said when comparing the coronavirus in India to the United States. She said because of India’s large population she believes it’s harder there to properly enforce regulations.
Goyal returned to India in March 2020 when IU announced that the remainder of the semester was moving online. She traveled back to the United States in August for the fall semester and went back to India in November. In late January, she flew back for the second semester of her junior year.
When traveling back to India, Goyal was required to show proof of a negative test and complete multiple temperature checks. She said the Indian government provided facilities for people to quarantine in unlike the U.S. However, Goyal mentioned seeing people on the airplane who sat in a row with their family remove their masks and other PPE.
Srishti Goyal explains her travel experience in airports and during the flight while traveling in a pandemic.
Since Goyal is a junior and already has her F1 Visa , she had an easier time traveling back and forth. It’s harder for first year international students to be in Bloomington now and last fall depending on when they receive their visa and when their country’s consulate opened according to Katie Goodroad who’s works in the Office of International Services.
Goodroad said the office worked with IU residential services to allow first year international students required to live on campus the ability to quarantine in their dorms before the residence halls officially opened.
Returning international students who don’t have leasing contracts through the University were required to make their own quarantine plans after traveling. The Office of International Services provided their resources as much as they could to assist students.
“Every student is usually coming at their own risk every time they enter the United States,” Goodroad said.
In March 2020, a number of international students remained on-campus during the original lockdown and haven’t returned home since. They use apps such as Facetime and What’sApp to stay in contact with family thousands of miles away.
Goodroad said she wishes the Office could provide more mental health resources for international students as mental health laws restrict the support the Office of International Services can provide for them.
Katie Goodroad mentions how there’s a lack of mental health resources for international students at IU.
The cost of traveling is a large expense international students pay in addition to their out of state tuition. Goyal said she wishes IU had given financial consideration to compensate for the cost of her returning to campus to only attend most classes online.
Besides the full price of tuition, Goyal and other international students wait longer than normal to book their tickets due to the uncertainty in the pandemic. Normally, Goyal says she buys her international tickets two months in advance, but since the pandemic, she waits until a month before as prices have already increased.
Next fall, The Office of International Services said they hope to see a rise in international students’ enrollment as IU announced all classes in the fall 2021 semester will be in-person.
