Stuck in Space
LISTEN: International students share their stories of loss during a pandemic
Early this year, international students studying in Canada had to decide to go home or to stay in their university towns. Nobody knew when the pandemic would be over or even if classes would be in person next semester.
Carrie Monteith-Levesque, International Student Coordinator at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, N.B., says that of the 189 international students, 117 stayed in Canada.
Juan Diego Rivas Freire, and Emilia Gutiérrez, both originally from Ecuador, are fourth-year students at Saint Thomas University who stayed in Fredericton.
They expected the long separation from family and friends would be difficult. They did not expect the weeks and months that followed to be filled with grief and loss.
Lars Schwarz is a third-year journalism student at St. Thomas University. He loves telling stories, and history. He often gets to combine the two while working as a museum theatre animator. This story was written for the class, The Power of Narrative.
