The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
International student unsure of his return home
DANBURY — For Alex Chen, the United States has become his “second home.”
It’s why the third-year international student from China decided to stay in Danbury, even after the coronavirus pandemic hit the nation.
“For me, it’s [the pandemic] not a problem,” said Chen, 18. “We can do this, we can deal with this. In my opinion, as long as people wear the mask, that should be fine.”
Chen has been studying at Immaculate High School in Danbury through the Apex International Education Partners program based in Derby. But the pandemic has changed the experience.
“It’s a really different experience for me,” Chen said. “I have an online class and I stay at home all day, but I had to create a new study plan. It’s not that difficult for me.”
His host mother, Kimlee Sam, had to cancel the travel plans she had for them.
“It could have been better if there was no pandemic,” she said. “Maybe we go places, go to New York, go to Boston... go some places. But now you can’t go anywhere.”
Sam said Chen is taking serious measures to protect himself against COVID-19. He declines to go with her to the store and avoids getting close to people.
“He doesn’t want to go out or anywhere,” she said.
The family had a COVID scare when the school called Sam to tell her Chen might have been exposed, but they tested negative.
She described Chen as quiet. He spends most of his days learning remotely from his room and in his downtime, stays inside, she said.
Pre-pandemic, Chen loved to play basketball, but the courts are closed. Sam said she suspects he misses playing.
Chen doesn’t know when he will return home to China because of the travel rules in effect and frequent airline changes.
Former President Donald Trump ordered a travel ban between the U.S. and China in early 2020, barring Chinese nationals from entering the country. The U.S. Department of State website urges residents to “reconsider” travel to China.
These restrictions have affected the Apex program’s ability to continue, said David Guerrera,
president of the organization.
“Our biggest hurdle is the travel ban between China and
the U.S. that’s been in effect for almost a year now,” he said. “So we’re hoping that ban is lifted soon and once that ban is lifted and vaccination for COVID becomes more widespread, I believe students will start to return to school.”
In a typical year, the program houses 350 to 400 international students, the majority of whom come from either China or Vietnam. The number of participants fell to 100 students after many flew home following the 2019-20 school year, Guerrera said.
Even after the sharp decrease, Guerrera decided to keep the program running.
“It was a difficult decision,” he said. “A lot of other programs actually decided to send their students home. And it required a lot more care, follow-up with our host families and we had to take the risk that one of our students might become impacted by COVID.”
He hopes the travel ban will be lifted soon, allowing more students to re-enter the program.
“We knew that this would eventually get better,” Guerrera said. “When it does get better, we want to jump back to where we were before, so we kept things going. If we closed the program and sent people home, I’m not sure we’d be able to start things again.”