With university classes across Canada moving online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some international students have remained in Canada and are trying to make the most of the situation.
Kawya Sood, an international student at the University of Calgary, lives with her two roommates in a shared house in Calgary.
Sood has been enjoying her time in self-isolation so far.
“It is helpful for us to be safe, and I am learning new things,” said Sood. “I do academics, so I am not a home person, but I am becoming a home person by learning cooking from a girl. She is teaching me [about] cooking.”
Sood says switching to online classes was difficult for her in the beginning because she has never taken online classes before. Now that she has adjusted to the change, she is enjoying her online classes.
Ankush Sharma, a Business Administration student at Bow Valley College, says self-isolation is important.
“It is [a] very easy way to save our [life] and thousands of others’ lives from COVID-19,” said Sharma.
Sharma says due to everyone’s busy schedules he has not met his roommates before now, but self-isolation has allowed him to get to know the other students he lives with.
“We are making our food together, having it together and these [are] things we were missing from [a] long time, as we used to do these back home in India,” said Sharma.
Sharma says people who are living and spending time with their families right now are very lucky, and encourages people to stay home.
“We are living here on rents without our families and we always try to see our family in our friends and we are enjoying this time with them,” said Sharma.
