From early February to April 2020 I was in Christchurch, New Zealand. Although it was a major time of turmoil worldwide, and a trip that ended early, I ended up learning a lot about myself along the way. I went to University of Canterbury, Christchurch. This university puts their international students together, I ended up rooming with someone from the east coast, someone from China, someone from New Zealand, and funny enough I was placed with someone from Mines. Canterbury does a super good job of making sure their international students feel welcome, and the school also does a great job of making sure everyone feels welcome. They hosted big events during their welcome week and the club fair was super used to having international students, making it easy to be involved in really any club. While I was there I rock climbed, and danced and made a lot of friends throughout this. Although most events got cancelled for both of these I was still able to go on some cool trips.

Kaikora-visited on a trip with some friends Rock climbing view near the school

Most of the friends I made on this trip ended up being international students, or study abroad students, much like me. COVID was not a super big concern for most of us to start off with. It
reached a point where it began to get bad in the US-and people’s home Universities were shutting down. Within a week everyone I lived with was gone and New Zealand had announced that in a few days they were going under a full 4 week(possibly longer) lockdown. This was one of the strictest lockdowns in the nation and I had the choice of returning home to the USA or spending 4 weeks locked in a 6 person flat by myself, unable to see anyone else. I decided to return home as it just did not seem smart for my mental health. Almost all of my friends ended up being sent home as well, and it was just a crazy time. Before classes went online you would show up to international students crying during class, saying they were “recalled” by their home university, and given 24 hours to leave the country. It was truly one of the craziest things I’ve experienced. Despite all of this I made some pretty great friends and learned a lot about myself and how I handle things. The choices for me to stay or leave were fully my own, and I had to learn how to navigate a global pandemic by myself.

In the end, I’m not really sure if I am glad I made the decision to leave. The lockdown in New Zealand ended up being only about 4 weeks, and then my friends who stayed were free to explore the country more. I’m not sure how I would have fared during that lockdown and total isolation, but I am glad for the time I had in the country and I cannot wait to return. If you go abroad-do not be afraid to ask questions and push yourself way out of your comfort zone!

Above are some photos of the view from the dorm building on campus-Spring was the end of fall and was a super nice time to visit in terms of weather!