Sunday, July 12, 2020
By:
Today marked the completion of week 6 of my summer internship. It is hard to wrap my head around the fact that college resumes in almost a month now. Realizing this also made me consider what it would be to attend next semester during the pandemic. While I am grateful for the opportunity this internship has provided me, the experiences lost because of COVID are a reality. It is disheartening to know that my senior year might be not as I had expected before. But this week I had different concerns regarding my senior year.
The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) announced that international students taking online classes due to the pandemic for the fall 2020 semester would have to leave the country. As an international student, this caused confusion and stress. The University of Richmond is adopting a hybrid model between online and in-person classes which would allow me to continue my studies here. While I may have a somewhat clear future ahead, I hope all international students can navigate themselves through these challenging circumstances.
Regardless, I tried to focus on my work and meet all my goals for the week. I have started working on a High Performance Computer which has sped up the completion of my goals. I am thankful to the University of Richmond for granting me access to use these facilities.
SPS organized a virtual picnic for us which was a good couple of hours spent interacting and playing games with the SPS family and interns.
Abdul Qadeer Rehan