Life as an International Student in 2020

There is one undeniable truth about 2020. It has created unprecedented disruption.

This disruption has demanded something extra from each of us. For our interstate boarders and international girls, the impact has produced a set of additional challenges. With state and national borders closed, these girls faced the prospect of prolonged periods without the capacity to return home. For our international students, they are now into their tenth month without any direct contact with their families and with the very real prospect of not being able to return home over the Christmas break. This is a huge sacrifice that each international family is making for their daughter to continue her education at Wilderness.

A sense of connection is at the heart of every positive experience, and now more than ever, these girls have required our additional support to keep them connected to each other and their families.

The strengthening of these connections is essential to help sustain the girls both academically and personally. These extraordinary times have required us to be innovative in developing ways of maintaining and strengthening the connections with our international community. In many ways, despite the physical disconnect, these efforts have brought us closer together, allowing our sense of community to thrive in adversity.

Messages of assurance from Principal, Ms Jane Danvers have been filmed and translated for our international parents to reassure them of the care their daughters are receiving.

We have allied with Walford School to provided ongoing boarding accommodation for all international students across the holiday breaks. During the July school holidays, many of the international students took to the road for a short stay in the South East of our State. On route to Mount Gambier, they visited the Old Tailem Bend township, the Pink Lakes at Meningie, the Giant Lobster in Kingston, and the beautiful town of Robe. They also enjoyed a bonfire and a breathtaking Australian sunset at a deer farm before exploring the natural wonders in and around Mount Gambier as well as the Naracoorte caves.

The trip was a great morale boost and allowed the girls to form fond memories of this time of their life despite the additional challenges the COVID-19 situation has brought for them this year. We were pleased to be able to live-stream the holiday so the experience could be shared in real-time with their families in Hong Kong and China.

This year is a great opportunity for me to spend more time with others and deepen my friendship with them. FAI CHAN

In the October holidays short trips to Victor Harbor and Hahndorf were scheduled to give the girls something to look forward to and uncover more about the Australian way of life.

During our recent International Assembly, a movie capturing messages of love and support from their families back home provided a surprise for the girls and an opportunity to share their circumstances and emotional messages with the whole school.

Included are some of the responses elicited when the girls were asked, “What is the outstanding memory of this time going to be for you?”

“When I wrote down this sentence, this is my 223th day away from home, I still can’t believe that I’m going to spend my first Chinese New Year away from my family in a foreign country.” – May Bian “It’s been a tough year, we’ve had a lot of new experiences, leaving home for more than a year: I wish each other a long life to share the beauty of this graceful moonlight, even though miles apart.” – Queenie Lin

“I think this year is a very challenging year, in such a long time, I no longer rely on my parents, no longer timid. Even though I miss my family very much and sometimes feel sad, I have changed a lot and become stronger this year.” – Ella JI

Despite COVID, this year, for me, has been livelier than ever, with new girls joining the boarding family, and the Wilderness girls having a chance to explore South Australia and forge new relationships.

Rosie Broderick Head of Boarding