Intercontinental college students confront travel issues

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A student sits inside a snow globe, looking cold. USC buildings are inside the snow globe and coronavirus particles are suspended inside the snow globe like snow flakes. A plane flies in the light blue sky outside of the snow globe. There are white clouds in the sky behind the snow globe. — Lyndzi Ramos | Each day Trojan

A couple of days right before his scheduled departure on Dec. 8, Divyam Jindal, a freshman majoring in economics and mathematics, checked with American Airways about his future flight residence to India. He was astonished to explore it had been cancelled, and he was rescheduled to a flight by means of London. That was before long canceled way too, and he been given a refund. A further booking and rescheduling later on, Jindal at last arrived in Delhi on a Dec. 14 Qatar Airways flight, his ticket eventually costing 3 moments more than the unique.

All through December, the increase of the omicron variant caused a slew of flight cancellations and modifications in travel limits, disrupting travel plans for a lot of. As the coronavirus pandemic carries on to evolve, the uncertainty it provides proceeds to current a problem for college students, especially those who came to study at USC from abroad.

“During these times, you by no means know when a flight’s heading to be canceled mainly because of COVID or some other purpose,” Jindal mentioned. “Plus, even on the flight, you are a minor worried you may well get COVID since of omicron spreading so speedily … You get sort of afraid that flights could get banned completely. There is just a lot of strain that goes into preparing an intercontinental vacation all through these periods.”

Ahead of winter break, Jindal evaluated the coronavirus scenario in India at the time and talked to his friends in related situations. If he went again dwelling, there was a opportunity he wouldn’t be able to return to campus for in-man or woman mastering in the spring semester. On the other hand, Jindal was eager to see his relatives just after his initial 4 months away at university, and he understood currently being at home would present a increase to his mental health and fitness. Ultimately, like numerous of his mates, he made a decision to make the journey.

“As an international college student, it is a big detail for me to come home. For the to start with time in my lifetime, I have put in 4 months away from my loved ones,” Jindal explained. “The biggest pro was obtaining to see my family and my friends coming back residence, just chilling out for a minor little bit. I genuinely essential that.”