“I am from Ghana… it was fully remote [last year]. I was given the opportunity to come, but there were some issues with the embassy back home,” Senior Dani Appiah said. “I feel like I am still in this phase of shock, I haven’t fully come to terms with the fact that I am on campus.” 

Appiah’s transition to campus has marked the start of her time on the Masters campus. Appiah first enrolled at Masters as a junior during the 2020-2021 school year,  but due to COVID-19, Appiah never got to step foot on the 99 acres that is Masters. With the new Covid rules, Appiah didn’t even get to start school on opening day due to a mandated five-day quarantine.

For many of the international students, this autumn was their first time on campus. Some share the same experience with Appiah, having their whole first year online, while others get to have their full boarding experience as new Masters students this year. 

The Masters boarding community holds 65 international students coming from 22 countries. This is the first time the boarding community has been at full capacity since the school was shut down on March sixth due to the pandemic.

In the spring of last year, Masters invited a select number of boarding students back to campus. The international students faced problems with not only Covid, but external problems like the immigration process. With the return to normalcy, classes have become a little bit easier but still the transition for international students is a difficult process. However, international boarders have support systems through both the fellow students and upperclassmen. 

Robert Fish, dean of global studies at Masters, explained how international students get the help they need. Through the help of the returning international students, the international peer leaders were formed. 

“It is a student-led group focused on activities because sometimes it helps to have other students that have been through the process that the new international students are going through,” Fish said. 

Additionally, faculty support is given through routine meetings at the beginning of year hosted by faculty members that live in the community.

For Appiah, all this support has definitely helped.

“Honestly they [Masters faculty] are the best, whenever I get lost I can just ask any of them… in the dorm they are very friendly and very nice,” she said.

Senior George Chang, who was a virtual student all last year, expressed his love and appreciation for the school community saying “overall, it is really nice to be back in the dorms where you are always around friends.”