KINZA KHAN

Department: Institute of Aviation Studies (IAS), UMT

Istanbul Aydin University (IAU), Turkey

Category: Aviation studies

Kinza Khan shares her student exchange experience and the aftermaths of Corona Virus on the student community in particular.

The impact of the labelled pandemic-corona virus on a daily basis is quite distressing. We can understand this health crisis because everyone is experiencing the same level of impact as that of this health emergency on a social, psychological and economical level. In context of social representation, the plans for our host university have been affected as no one was aware of this health emergency and in the beginning, reactions from institutes were so uncertain. Later on, management tried hard to coordinate with exchange students for online classes, updated news and for exams through Erasmus+ Office and the representative of each country to convey accurate information from only selected concerned authorities.

On the other side, as an exchange student my expectations are high to achieve maximum in the given time period as we have a big opportunity to learn and interact from diversity and full of charming experiences, but my international interaction also decreases.  Secondly, psychologically we’re so ready to cope with this situation as we know 2020 “it’s a year for staying alive and if you can stay alive then you have made a profit already” but this pandemic made me feel home sick as I had never seen this before in my life. Lastly, my family has been supporting me financially and I am grateful for every blessing but due to the lockdown and curfew situation in Istanbul, I suffered delay in getting my money from Western Union. Despite this, I am living with a Pakistani girl who has been dealing with the accommodation and even though there was this delay, she still didn’t bother me and tried her best to cooperate with us.

In addition, we panicked for the shopping of eatables and food to store as much as we could because we were so unaware of the extension of lockdown and curfew. To conclude, every experience leads us towards learning and that’s why we have this chance to get stronger and be prepared to face the ups and downs of life with our strong will power. More power to those who tried their best at their level to stand strong in this health crisis.