Since the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic at the debut of 2020, the pandemic has taken a heavy toll on all parts of our lives, reshaping almost all parts of our lives. In the sector of education, the year 2020 has witnessed that millions of students were forced to stay away from their campus, receiving home education for months in an attempt to mitigate the spread of virus. As OECD reported in this September, the number of students being affected by the decisions of school closures had exceeded 1.6 billion. Even though the pandemic has been under our control at the current stage, we still face an unpredictable future. Against this background, it is important for international students to STAY SAFE AND KEEP MENTALLY HEALTHY. Here are some tips for international students to look after their mental health and wellbeing:
Learn more about COVID-19 facts
It is not a shame if you feel scared, frightened, and panicked, because these are normal responses to such a public health disaster. However, we know that fear always springs from ignorance, or an absence of knowledge. When there are all rumours about the virus, it is suggested that international students should spend some time learning more about COVID-19 facts. For example, it is good to know how the virus spreads, what measures we should take to protect ourselves against the virus, how the pandemic situation evolves in the country where we live, etc. As long as we keep ourselves well-informed, it becomes easier for us to make adjustment to the new normality.
Don’t get emotionally isolated
It is understandable that lockdown policies made it difficult for people to socialise. This is true of international students. It seems that the situation that many international students are facing is even worse than that. For some international students, they were able to fly back to their home countries; while for others, they have to stay in the UK and follow the country’s social distancing rules. However, social distancing does not necessarily mean we cannot have social networking behaviours; instead, we can consider the pandemic as an opportunity which allows us to slow down and spend more time communicating with our family and friends.
Eat healthily and do exercises regularly
To maintain a good mood, the very first step is to keep physically healthy. So, eating healthily and do exercises regularly is a helpful tip for every international student. If you have ever complaint that you do not have enough time to cook for yourself or go to the gym, you now have plenty of time to cook and do some exercises at home. To build up our resistance to the virus, we should keep a balanced diet, which will not only make us stay fit but also help us relieve mental stress. Also, in an age of information explosion, we don’t have to go to the gym to exercise. There are a lot of free fitness video classes on social media platforms like Youtube, Facebook, and Bilibili. We can just subscribe to some fitness channels (e.g. Pamela Reif, highly recommended) and follow the instructions to stretch our body and do exercises!
