Students vs. Pandemic
While the eyes of the world are being directed toward the medical and political aspects of the ongoing pandemic, our daily lives, although not in the headlines, have been violently plunged into a vortex of new rules. When the virus turned the whole world upside down, it seems like people started looking for the “new normal” in search of stability and support. But for certain groups, like students - foreign students in particular - seeking normality is a battle with many opponents.
Grafík/Margrét Aðalheiður Önnu-Þorgeirsdóttir
No unemployment benefits for students
Ironically, postgraduate student John came to Iceland to strive for peace. “What other country in the world could possibly better fit that description?” he asks rhetorically. After a few years of traveling extensively throughout the Middle East and completing an internship in Istanbul, he decided to settle down in Reykjavik and started working at a guesthouse. In January, right before the pandemic broke out in Europe, he applied for a postgraduate program at the university. In September, when the tourism sector was struggling again due to lack of customers, he was left with no job, and, being a student, no right to unemployment benefits. While many of his classmates worry about their workload at university, he faces mounting bills and the rising uncertainty of what the future will bring. Although John has been looking for a job opportunity for quite a while now, the answer is always silence. For an ambitious postgraduate student, that is a painful reality that leads him to think he may be forced to leave Iceland. He hopes that an internship with an Erasmus scholarship in Germany, although it will require him to move again, will allow him to meet his basic needs, like food expenses and accommodation. The feelings of isolation and abandonment he’s experienced in these circumstances have created constant stress, and, as he mentions, led to depression at some point. “The struggle is real,” he emphasizes, “especially because of the uncertainty. I don’t know if my exams will be online or on campus, so I can’t go back to my home country and finish the semester over there. It keeps me here, with no job and no other options but a loan.” When asked how he would describe his feelings in one word, he simply says, “frustration.”
Difficulties finding a job
The difficult job market has been a growing challenge for many students lately. One student, who chose to remain anonymous, is currently living off her savings, partially relying on her family’s support, and says it is only becoming tougher. She’s applying to work at places that do not require Icelandic fluency, but as such places largely depend on foreign guests, many are suspending operations and laying off their employees or waiting for better times to hire new staff. For people like her, who just arrived in the country, the possibilities are very limited or even non-existent. She admits that the situation is causing severe anxiety. “It would be impossible for me to continue my studies without sufficient finances. I am also thinking about my future here in Iceland - and whether I have any.” She is going to finish her studies in one year which, she is afraid, may not be enough time for the situation to recover and ensure her employment, even after graduation. What is her method for getting through difficult times? “Studying even harder.”
Moving nightmares
Jazmin wasn’t even sure until the last minute if it would be possible for her to start her degree this academic year. Her dream program, Viking and Medieval Norse Studies, is only taught at the University of Iceland, so she moved mountains to make it happen, coming all the way from Mexico in the midst of the pandemic. “The flights that I had to take were the most stressful part about moving to Iceland. Not only did it cost twice as much as it usually does, but I was just in constant distress that I would get stuck at one of the borders during a layover.” It did not get any easier when she finally landed on Icelandic soil. “I had to deliver certain documents in time to legalize my stay and studies here, but because of COVID, all the offices in my home country were closed. One month later and it is still in process.” She cannot wait until all the nerve-wracking parts are over and she can start fully enjoying what Iceland has to offer. Her enormous determination led her to literally cross the world, but Jazmin says it is all worth it: “I am very grateful that I can be here in Iceland. Although it has been stressful at the beginning, I feel nothing but safe and secure here and I feel well taken care of by both staff and administration.” She looks to the future with optimism, hoping the situation will soon get better. At the end of the day, “Iceland is a perfect country to be in,” she says.
New reality of work and studies
However, the virus and the restrictions following its spread also affected students' studies. Since the start of the academic year, most classes have been held online to minimize the risk of infection. Meiting, who is studying renewable energy, sees both pros and cons in that arrangement. “It gives us much-needed flexibility, especially to my classmates, since most of them have families or work obligations. Although it is sometimes frustrating to sit all the time in front of the computer, I think that at the end of the day, online classes may be the future of education. This way, people would have more options and therefore easier access to academic studies.” She also points out that, for her, it’s “safety first.” Meiting says that lately she has started to really value the popularization of online streaming, which, despite the gathering restrictions, allows her to keep on working for the Nordic China Startup Forum, the international NGO that is particularly based on community. Although the organization usually holds more than 80 events a year in multiple cities around the world, including some on our university campus, she admits it has become challenging to reconnect online with members the way they used to.