Closed Borders

International Students COVID-19

This Podcast was an examinable artefact for my PhD in nursing. My research explored the experiences of international nursing students, studying in South Australia, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The meaning of participants’ experiences is located in the co-creative process, the production, and the final product of the Closed Borders podcast. This Podcast enabled students to tell their own stories in their own voices.

Hi, I’m Lisa and I come from Korea. So Western people, they blamed Asian

countries that they spread this virus. So there is lots of discrimination that happened back in that time. So although I'm wearing a mask and I went out, people look at me, give a look, and stare at me…I was very scared.

My name is Aida and I came from Thailand. I lost my job. I live

with a little savings, but the huge strain was the Uni fee that international students have to pay. And we can't make a wrong step with that because the Uni didn't allow us to pay later, be late with payments, or do the installment plan. It feels like, "Did I make the right decision? Did they see me as a student, that they should support me through the whole journey, or just because it's our choice, so we have to put up with it?" There was the Job Keeper and Job Seeker, but nothing for international students. Nothing for us.

Hello, my name’s Liana and I come from China. The 1st of February 2020

the border of Australia suddenly closed and I was still in China. So, it's a shock news for me. We could come back via another country like Thailand. While we waited there, we have no idea what we can do and how we can start the new semester at the University. The University of course cannot help students a lot and they cannot provide enough information to students, so the only thing they can do is just tell the students we understand your situation, and we want to try our best to help you but certainly, we cannot find appropriate way to solve your problem.

Hi, I’m Cat and I was born in Brazil. So, the school sent us an email one day

terminating our program, and telling us to go home. It was awful. And my family as well, just reading that from the other side of the world, seeing them terminating our program, sending us home. It wasn't even something we were considering because it would be six different flights, staying in different countries for like twenty-four hours. It was taking about a week for people to get home.

My name is Aurianne and I am from the Philippines. You hear from the news

all the deaths, all the positive cases in your country. And then, of course, you're going to worry about your family. You don't know what's really happening because it's a virus. And then you don't know how serious it is. We don't have any information about it. And also, at the same time, I'm worrying because of my family in the Philippines because when I left Philippines, I kind of knew that there's already virus. And then we didn't close the borders in the Philippines. And then I did nursing in the Philippines. So, I have an idea what's really happening.

I’m Tony and I come from China. It was not mandatory in Australia to wear

a mask here at the beginning of COVID, but us being very cautious, we already started to wear masks.. So, the tutor asked him to remove the mask or leave the class, which, in the end, he had to compromise, and he removed the mask. Some students said, "This is a total racism, and he should report to the Uni." But like I said, for me, it was probably the different ideas of different cultures. So, I'm not sure, if it was me, well, I would fight? I don't know. I would remove the mask. And I might. I might. Yes'.

Students' storytelling came at great emotional cost. Their stories are rich

and raw, and they hold layers of meaning. Students selected their podcast content from data collected from many conversations and recorded interviews. Co-created episodes demonstrate the benefits of working in partnership with international nursing students.  Mid-crises research has demonstrated that educational challenges cannot be addressed without considering other needs. If a student is hungry or unable to pay fees, is deeply affected by grief, anxiety, or experiencing racial abuse and social isolation, how can they learn to become Registered Nurses? 
A well-thought-out crisis management plan can pre-empt and manage issues in future, inevitable disasters. Knowledge gained from listening to students' stories can help us to offer international students who come to Australia to study nursing, a safe, hospitable, and memorable experience as they learn to become Registered Nurses.
Thank you for listening to the Closed Borders podcast.
Susan