International students must adhere to the new requirements after Long Beach State revised the conditions these students must meet to attend the university this fall.
CSULB, in line with the Department of Homeland Security, updated their mandatory requirements for international students, including JCB health coverage, which is the required every semester for international students across every CSU campus.
In addition, international students must register for one in-person or hybrid class and complete their Online Immigration Check-In through their MyCSULB account. International students must also show their proof of vaccination unless they have obtained medical or religious exemption.
In compliance with LA County health regulations, the students were subject to a 10-day quarantine and a negative test within 24 hours of arrival to the U.S., both of which Jayden Maree, a fourth-year aerospace engineering major from South Africa, had to go through.
“I got back to find a new lease, but at the same time, I had to self-isolate and quarantine for the benefit of others,” he said. “It was a horrible and bizarre experience.”
He also mentioned he wasn’t able to get tested for COVID-19 in South Africa because their tests cost $90, so instead he tested regularly when he returned to the U.S.
The Biden administration, however, announced a temporary ban on the entry of immigrants and re-entry of U.S. citizens into the country on Jan. 21, 2021. The list of banned countries included the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa.
The travel ban on these countries was imposed because of COVID-19 cases topping 1.4 million at the beginning of this year.
Maree’s visit to his home country was expected to be a month long, but was delayed six months because of the ban, traveling back to Long Beach in July.
Due to the travel ban, Maree was forced to spend the entire spring 2021 semester taking classes online while staying in South Africa.
Time zone differences, travel bans and personal mental health tolls were just some of the complications international students such as Maree faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Online classes were a challenge for him because of the nine-hour time difference between the California and South Africa. He said he had to attend his online lectures from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m..
“[It] was definitely the worst part of my experience,” Maree said. “I had to sleep during the day to attend classes at night because I was scared I’d miss something during class, like, a pop quiz.”
Still, Maree said he wanted socialize with others, which would lead him to start an off-campus organization called the Climate Action Team, a social group where the members discuss and plan ways to combat global warming.
“This was really hard to organize, but in the end, it got done because of the amazing people I met along the way,” he said. “It’s definitely been a great way to talk to plenty of people about the state of the world we live in.”
Deepankar Chaudhary, a third-year business management major from India, also struggled with online classes because of the 12 hour and 30 minute time difference between the U.S. and his home country.
“I took online classes for one semester, but then I took a break because it was really difficult,” he said.
After taking a year-long break from online classes, Chaudhary returned to CSULB in order to continue his education, but also struggled with finding a place to live due to the economic hardships caused by COVID-19.
Despite the adversities international students had to endure during the pandemic, Chaudhary said he hoped they would be motivated once they returned to the Beach.
“My advice to all CSULB international students would be to remind themselves why they came to the U.S.,” he said.