In this episode, we speak with Ms Jiexiu Chen, a final year PhD student at University College London’s Institute of Education (UK). Jiexiu’s experiences during this COVID 19 global pandemic could be characterised by these key words: sense of loss, danger vs safety, anxiety and uncertainty. She found the phrase ‘fighting a full battle’ (打全场) fitting in depicting Chinese international students like herself. She explained that the initial outbreaks in China had got her really worried, and now that the pandemic has been spread across the world, she experienced an overload of information. She was struggling to orient herself amid constant bombardment of fast-evolving pandemic updates. She depicted her state of mind as being ‘at a loss’ (迷茫).

In this episode, we speak with Miss Yitian REN, a first year PhD student at The University of Manchester (UK), originally from Xi’an, Shaanxi, China. Yitian shared her experiences as a Chinese international student amid the current COVID-19 Global Pandemic. She reflected on her emotional journey throughout different stages and different regional outbreaks.