Our target participants are Chinese/Asian International students. Because Covid-19 is called the Chinese virus by a few people in the United States. The selection of Chinese students to interview can help us understand the extent to which they as Chinese students at school have been affected by the pandemic
Q1: How are you feeling at your current time? Do you feel any different?
A1-1: Doing alright. The election is hectic and feels weird. Anxious. Worried. Against Trump. Lots of concerns. Weird to see how in college we are surrounded by people that agree with us and then see the difference. Preparing for icore and feeling stressed about that, lose the ability to work on the case and be together, quality product and experience.
A1-2: I feel lonely staying at home. Super stress because I take courses alone. I felt no support because I don't have classmates. I’m an international student and many of my friends have already gone back to China. Yes, because it is super different for taking the online course at home. I miss being able to go out and have fun as well as getting together with friends. It's my last year here, but it's too bad I can't be outside to enjoy the fall scenery very much. And wearing a mask is an extra thing for me. I have forced myself to gradually get used to wearing a mask when I go out though, and the fact that you can't show your face with a mask on makes it problematic for me to communicate with others. Because of the epidemic, I've been more deliberate about keeping my distance from others. I lost the opportunity to make more friends.
A1-3: Could be better. With all the class schedules being messed up this semester and possibly next semester as well, I was somehow stressed during the summer because I stayed here during the summer so my parents were really worried about me and I didn't want them to worry about me. There are definitely changes that made my life different and harder. I miss going to the campus and hanging out with friends. I also find it hard sometimes to focus through zoom lectures everyday because my eyes would get sore after staring at a screen for too long.
Q2: Briefly explain your understanding of COVID
A2-1: An awful disease. Annoying. Personally our age group seems safe, but it is annoying and a pandemic and have 2 and a half years of college taken away because of COVID. Countries have different ways to deal with it. The resolution was quick in china (talk to parents) barely have to wear masks, some people are back to normal life but in America they weren’t able to also achieve that. The pandemic response was not good. Don’t want to compare it to the flu, it is a big impact of a disease, we are aware of the flu but don’t know as much about COVID. Concerned about the vaccine.
A2-2: Super dangerous. It's a virus that can be transmitted through the air. The rate of infection is very high, so we avoid places with a high concentration of people. Hand washing, heat, etc. can effectively reduce the survival rate of bacteria and thus reduce the rate of illness. Everyone and so many industries have been influenced. The world economy has been affected to some extent. Unemployment rates have risk.
A2-3: It's a really bad disease and has caused a lot of deaths. I have been told that if younger people gets COVID, they are not likely to die from it, elder people are easier to die from having COVID. It is spread through talking, sneezing, or coughing, so it is best to wear a mask to prevent you and others from getting exposed to COVID. COVID has caused a pandemic since this year and it also brought racism and hatred to our society.
Q3: Where do you get your COVID related news? (specify medium)
A3-1: Have not been reading, Hearing from others, Occasionally YouTube, Podcast in morning, Philip defranco, Google news, New York times (not often on it), and Reddit sometimes.
A3-2: From WeChat news and campus news. At first, a lot of news was relayed from my parents. Because the outbreak started out in China the first time. I was very worried about my parents and a lot of Chinese media reported these things. There was enough information on WeChat news to tell people how to protect themselves. After the school year started and with students returning to CAMPUS, I've been worried about the epidemic becoming serious at school, so I've been keeping an eye on school emails and local news. But I am very happy that our school is doing well.
A3-3: WeChat, Weibo, CNN, NYtimes, and CBS
Q4: What was your experience when COVID was just starting in February 2020?
A4-1: Parents in China and in Feb knew it would be a big impact and big situation. Friends in New York have personal experience. Noticed a lot of anti-Asian sentiment already arising. America was loose with their laws and rules. BLM right after, racial equality was a big issue, but felt like Asian Americans were invisible the public discourse.
A4-2: Worried about my family. I have been discriminated against by other students because I am an international student who comes from China. Worried about the virus situation in the US. Lack of medical supplements.
A4-3: When COVID was first started in February in the States, I got a little bit panic because I realized the virus can actually spread so fast and so widely in a very short time. However, I was also convinced by some of my peers that the virus wouldn’t affect younger generations that much, and I felt a bit calm from that. I was still going out to eat and hang out with my friends before Spring Break.
Q5: Do you feel like you have had to be more conscious of the virus than your domestic student counterparts?
A5-1: Just stayed inside. Did not think much about it. Everyone is conscious of it, but others are not at all and at least I am staying at home. Less conscious because he is part of a lot of other AAPI and close friends. Risk averse, AAPI are taking it more seriously. Story of other people who went out and then stayed home.
A5-2: Yes. Because I was afraid of the bias from my domestic classmates when the COVID just happened and I also have the problem of going back to China due to the strict China-enter policies and also the extremely expensive plane tickets.
A5-3: Personally, I think I do have to be more conscious of the virus than other non-Asian students because my family has been through the scariest time when the virus hit China in January while I was in America. The experience that they had with the virus definitely shaped how I react to it, probably in a more sensitive way.
Q6: During COVID, have you ever been treated in a different way because of your race?
A6-1: I feel like I was treated differently. People know family comes from China. Obviously people worried about how it is affecting me. Racist high school kids walking up on Kirkwood and going to bloomingthai and high school kids yelled racist slurs. Asians as the model minority and everything against is normalized. Calling names be bad.
A6-2: Yes. When the COVID first broke out, I was taking i-core classes. When I coughed twice inside the classroom, all the students around me looked at me with very frightened eyes. Later, when I chose to wear a mask in class, no other students wanted to sit next to me and look at me in a weird way
A6-3: I don't think I have been treated in a certain way due to COVID-19 as an Asian, but I can definitely feel the pressure of being an Asian in a White-dominated state even though IU is in a college town. When the virus first hit the U.S. in March, I was always very scared and anxious when I went grocery shopping because there is so much news about people attacking Asians because they think this is an Asian virus.
A1-1: Doing alright. The election is hectic and feels weird. Anxious. Worried. Against Trump. Lots of concerns. Weird to see how in college we are surrounded by people that agree with us and then see the difference. Preparing for icore and feeling stressed about that, lose the ability to work on the case and be together, quality product and experience.
A1-2: I feel lonely staying at home. Super stress because I take courses alone. I felt no support because I don't have classmates. I’m an international student and many of my friends have already gone back to China. Yes, because it is super different for taking the online course at home. I miss being able to go out and have fun as well as getting together with friends. It's my last year here, but it's too bad I can't be outside to enjoy the fall scenery very much. And wearing a mask is an extra thing for me. I have forced myself to gradually get used to wearing a mask when I go out though, and the fact that you can't show your face with a mask on makes it problematic for me to communicate with others. Because of the epidemic, I've been more deliberate about keeping my distance from others. I lost the opportunity to make more friends.
A1-3: Could be better. With all the class schedules being messed up this semester and possibly next semester as well, I was somehow stressed during the summer because I stayed here during the summer so my parents were really worried about me and I didn't want them to worry about me. There are definitely changes that made my life different and harder. I miss going to the campus and hanging out with friends. I also find it hard sometimes to focus through zoom lectures everyday because my eyes would get sore after staring at a screen for too long.
Q2: Briefly explain your understanding of COVID
A2-1: An awful disease. Annoying. Personally our age group seems safe, but it is annoying and a pandemic and have 2 and a half years of college taken away because of COVID. Countries have different ways to deal with it. The resolution was quick in china (talk to parents) barely have to wear masks, some people are back to normal life but in America they weren’t able to also achieve that. The pandemic response was not good. Don’t want to compare it to the flu, it is a big impact of a disease, we are aware of the flu but don’t know as much about COVID. Concerned about the vaccine.
A2-2: Super dangerous. It's a virus that can be transmitted through the air. The rate of infection is very high, so we avoid places with a high concentration of people. Hand washing, heat, etc. can effectively reduce the survival rate of bacteria and thus reduce the rate of illness. Everyone and so many industries have been influenced. The world economy has been affected to some extent. Unemployment rates have risk.
A2-3: It's a really bad disease and has caused a lot of deaths. I have been told that if younger people gets COVID, they are not likely to die from it, elder people are easier to die from having COVID. It is spread through talking, sneezing, or coughing, so it is best to wear a mask to prevent you and others from getting exposed to COVID. COVID has caused a pandemic since this year and it also brought racism and hatred to our society.
Q3: Where do you get your COVID related news? (specify medium)
A3-1: Have not been reading, Hearing from others, Occasionally YouTube, Podcast in morning, Philip defranco, Google news, New York times (not often on it), and Reddit sometimes.
A3-2: From WeChat news and campus news. At first, a lot of news was relayed from my parents. Because the outbreak started out in China the first time. I was very worried about my parents and a lot of Chinese media reported these things. There was enough information on WeChat news to tell people how to protect themselves. After the school year started and with students returning to CAMPUS, I've been worried about the epidemic becoming serious at school, so I've been keeping an eye on school emails and local news. But I am very happy that our school is doing well.
A3-3: WeChat, Weibo, CNN, NYtimes, and CBS
Q4: What was your experience when COVID was just starting in February 2020?
A4-1: Parents in China and in Feb knew it would be a big impact and big situation. Friends in New York have personal experience. Noticed a lot of anti-Asian sentiment already arising. America was loose with their laws and rules. BLM right after, racial equality was a big issue, but felt like Asian Americans were invisible the public discourse.
A4-2: Worried about my family. I have been discriminated against by other students because I am an international student who comes from China. Worried about the virus situation in the US. Lack of medical supplements.
A4-3: When COVID was first started in February in the States, I got a little bit panic because I realized the virus can actually spread so fast and so widely in a very short time. However, I was also convinced by some of my peers that the virus wouldn’t affect younger generations that much, and I felt a bit calm from that. I was still going out to eat and hang out with my friends before Spring Break.
Q5: Do you feel like you have had to be more conscious of the virus than your domestic student counterparts?
A5-1: Just stayed inside. Did not think much about it. Everyone is conscious of it, but others are not at all and at least I am staying at home. Less conscious because he is part of a lot of other AAPI and close friends. Risk averse, AAPI are taking it more seriously. Story of other people who went out and then stayed home.
A5-2: Yes. Because I was afraid of the bias from my domestic classmates when the COVID just happened and I also have the problem of going back to China due to the strict China-enter policies and also the extremely expensive plane tickets.
A5-3: Personally, I think I do have to be more conscious of the virus than other non-Asian students because my family has been through the scariest time when the virus hit China in January while I was in America. The experience that they had with the virus definitely shaped how I react to it, probably in a more sensitive way.
Q6: During COVID, have you ever been treated in a different way because of your race?
A6-1: I feel like I was treated differently. People know family comes from China. Obviously people worried about how it is affecting me. Racist high school kids walking up on Kirkwood and going to bloomingthai and high school kids yelled racist slurs. Asians as the model minority and everything against is normalized. Calling names be bad.
A6-2: Yes. When the COVID first broke out, I was taking i-core classes. When I coughed twice inside the classroom, all the students around me looked at me with very frightened eyes. Later, when I chose to wear a mask in class, no other students wanted to sit next to me and look at me in a weird way
A6-3: I don't think I have been treated in a certain way due to COVID-19 as an Asian, but I can definitely feel the pressure of being an Asian in a White-dominated state even though IU is in a college town. When the virus first hit the U.S. in March, I was always very scared and anxious when I went grocery shopping because there is so much news about people attacking Asians because they think this is an Asian virus.