No, Work and Travel. Yes, Tuition Fee. How Did Students Manage?
According to the U.S. Department of State report, over 330,000 exchange visitors (J-1) visas have been issued every year since 2015. More than 100,000 of them went to the participants of the Work and Travel USA program (W&T). On Sunday, March 15, 2020, the J-1 applicants got their visa interviews postponed for an unknown period of time due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
“Many of [the American University in Bulgaria (AUBG)] students rely on the Work and Travel programs in the United States. Students travel to the U.S., work during the summer, and earn enough to cover their university tuition and fees. This year they couldn’t do that because of COVID-19,”
said Iliya Kardashliev, the chief financial officer of AUBG, in the interview for the America for Bulgaria Foundation on September 16, 2020. This year, the global pandemic ruined the plans on the usual summer income, while the student bill remained the same.
However, the Dean of Faculty of AUBG Robert White stated that the number of students who started the Fall 2020 semester is 925, which approximates the number AUBG hosted a year earlier. How did students manage throughout the summer in the lockdown, and what helped them pay the tuition fees? Ten AUBG students were interviewed to explain how they assembled the pieces of the broken plans back.
Student Job in the Home Country. Did It Become an Equal Alternative?
Most international students caught the last available flights to their home countries back in March 2020 when coronavirus reached the level of a pandemic. Later, in summer, it occurred that there were certain difficulties one may encounter in search of a job back home.
Despite the long-lasting hopes for W&T to become possible one day, Nikita Kozyrenko, a second-year student, still had to start looking for a job in Kyiv, Ukraine. “Actually, it is quite hard to find a job in Ukraine if you don’t have any friends or other connections. Because either you are going to get a meager salary, or you have to work extra hard. I got lucky to have friends who provided me with a job to earn for my living,” he explained.
To cover at least his future daily spending, Kozyrenko went through a classic W&T scenario back home, working two jobs and getting no sleep just to get by. “I started working in the golf club as a marshal and a driving range assistant. So, basically, I was working for two people there. And I got enough money to pay for my living expenses.” Not everybody had an option to come back to the roots. Because of anti-COVID measures, some students faced no other choice but to stay in Bulgaria.
Working in Bulgaria. What Did Those Who Got Stuck Do?
Due to the borders’ shut down and the flight cancelations, the risk of not being able to get home and later return forced some of the students to spend the summer in Bulgaria. Kaiden Myers, a first-year student from the U.S., went through several job positions this summer.
“So, firstly, I was volunteering, helping SOS children’s villages. Then, the main job I had was in the company, where we were helping businesses in America get better reviews. So, I would be calling businesses overnight, probably around two or three in the morning, which is around evening time [there].” For him, finding a job did not solve the financial difficulties: “I would not say that I had any problem finding employment. I would say the biggest problem was earning money from it.”
Another AUBG student was granted permission to stay on campus until the fall semester while working at the university offices. Binderiya Usukhbayar, a second-year student from Mongolia, had absolutely no chance to go home, as Mongolia shut its borders even before the AUBG quarantine started. She also expressed her concern about the amount of money paid to students in Bulgaria, “I was working at AUBG throughout the summer, so I made some money from that. But mostly, my plan was to get the job from doing online work. And I actually managed to make some money from doing translations. But not a lot.”
Internships. Did The Financial Aspect Take a Step Back?
If there was something more important for students than tuition coverage, then it was the experience they could have earned. As Yenlik O’Neill, a third-year student from Kazakhstan, said, “Work and Travel [program] is not concentrated on the professional skills. In contrast, what I can say about my working experience this summer is that my professional skill has grown a lot. I think that was something very useful that boosted my CV immensely.”
Nataliia Kravtsova, a fourth-year student from Ukraine, got a chance to make some money and gain the desired experience, at the same time. She decided not to return home from her Erasmus+ exchange program and found an internship in Spain.
Kravtsova was receiving an Erasmus grant for her internship, but she still continued to look for more opportunities. “I was also looking for an online job. There was a website where you can take a user data test, and they pay you something like 10 dollars per test. I also had a job at one of the online English schools in Ukraine. So, just like multiple jobs here and there that pay you in small portions, but then add up to something.”
Leave of Absence. Maybe It Was the Right Time to Take a Deep Breath?
Statistics provided by White show that there is only a slight increase in students who decided to skip the current semester.
White mentioned that only 35 students were aiming for leave of absence until August 10. As the deadline for payments approached, the number went up. Alexander Chernev, a third-year student from Bulgaria, explained his choice of not going to the university in Fall 2020 as unwillingness to take risks of AUBG fully turning towards digital education.
“The main thing was the risk I would be taking if I go on the hybrid program. AUBG, at any point, can say, ‘We are moving online again.’ And I did not want that to happen.”
Accordingly, online mode did not suit him personally. Chernev insisted on AUBG being more than just an institution, “Here you pay not only for education, you also pay for the community itself, the events, the friends you make. I think university is something more than just education or more than just socializing. The friends you make in the university, I believe, are the friends you make for life.”
Online Mode. Does Saving the Money From the Housing Fee Worth It?
Some students could not make it to the university in Bulgaria because of travel restrictions implied by their countries. Official data provided by White show that there are 228 students online. So, mainly, those who had a chance to choose were either on Chernev’s side or decided to give the new hybrid mode a shot.
Kravtsova went through a portion of doubts thinking about the proposed alternative. “The only reason I considered not to come to AUBG was the housing fee because it’s an extra thousand which I could have saved up living with my parents. But I just didn’t think it was worth enough to sacrifice all this campus environment and my friends. When you are on campus, I think it motivates you to study more. It’s just a different vibe here, and I certainly didn’t want to stay at home.”
In contrast, Irdi Duka, a fourth-year student from Albania, was one of those who balanced the number of L-statuses out, revoking his leave and switching to online instead. The initial motivation to skip the semester was one additional month in the U.S. A paid internship became the new stimuli to stay at home and continue studies online. Duka tries to manage the tough senior’s schedule and working hours. “I’m really trying to cooperate. Sometimes, I just put my headphones on and leave the lecture going on my phone, while I’m going around the office trying to do my duties. It’s hard. But it’s my choice to do so.”
Support Funds. Did Students Feel AUBG by Their Side?
According to the Student Support Fund report, AUBG established an additional financial aid program to help those “facing financial hardship.” The two rounds of support, the Student Support Fund, and the Student Emergency Fund, required students to report on how their financial situation has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Duka described his experience with the support funds as a pleasant surprise. “It was really intense. Because the day I decided to actually revoke the leave of absence was the last day that I could apply for the Student Emergency Fund. And I did. And I wasn’t really expecting anything, to be honest. But I was actually surprised that they did support me with their fund.”
On the other hand, there are always people who did not enter the list of recipients. Kozyrenko did not get into the aid distribution, even though his family suffered significant losses since the beginning of the year. “My parents did not understand why so, because we showed all the documents and stuff. My mother had not been working for a month or two before the pandemic started because of her working place catching on fire. So, she especially didn’t understand the denial.” Eventually, his family managed to cover the university expenses because of parents’ effort.
Still Kids. Still Loving Parents. How Did Parents Become a Rescue Team for Most of the Students?
Out of all the interviewed students, nobody was denied parental advice and help. Students were in doubt, hesitating to acknowledge the hit on the financial independence in front of parents. Some of them were on the edge of ending the struggle with quite radical methods.
“My initial thought was to drop the university. I saw that I had no income at all. I saw that I couldn’t afford AUBG. So, I talked to my parents. And my parents are like, ‘No, you are not leaving the university. We are going to pay for it.’ Now I am funded by my parents. Nothing is coming out of my pocket,” said Xohnni Çela, a fourth-year student from Albania. He explained that it was hard not to worry about financial issues, as the situation felt hopeless.
Sofia Kurochkina, a fourth-year student from Russia, also felt unconfident about asking her family for help. Today she looks back at the situation philosophically, “You’ve already said that you are financially independent, that you are a cool adult… And when the COVID-19 situation happens, you are afraid to talk then, I think, there’s something wrong with you. Because they are always ready to help. I made such a mistake before…”
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Viktor Kharyton studies Journalism and Politics at the American University in Bulgaria. He wishes Work and Travel 2021 would take place, as his financial independence is in danger too.
