Lindenwood Magazine - Spring 2021

22 23 SPRING 2021 EDITION SPRING 2021 EDITION THE LINDENWOOD THE LINDENWOOD Not only is Goewert following in the footsteps of Dr. Bagley, but she is also forging her own path with plans and studies of her own. “Currently, I am working on a few different research projects, one of which focuses on how strategy use during learning and recall affects memory performance. In the future, I plan to pursue a career in academia and continue research in the field of cognitive neuroscience.” RECOGNIZING INTERNATIONAL STUDENT EFFORTS IN COPING WITH COVID-19 by Bianca Sa When college campuses first started to shut down due to stay-at-home orders, international students had to be very quick in decision making: should they buy tickets for the earliest flight back to their home countries? Or should they stay in America and wait for the situation to improve? And what would the repercussions for each choice be? Every student faced uncertainty, confusion, and anguish in putting a halt to their college experience and having to find solutions to the unplanned circumstances. Several students chose to go back to their home countries and weren’t able to return for Fall 2020. Lindenwood student Maxime Kaiser, from France, was one of them. He chose to go back to France as soon as borders started to close down in several countries, and he ended up staying in his home country. After almost a year of not directly experiencing college life, Kaiser was able to travel back to St. Charles and is extremely happy to be on campus, for he finally finds himself in the setting that most motivates him to study and work towards his career goals. Kaiser has been meeting with his Lion Life Coach, Penny Bryant, who has been working closely with him and has caused a positive impact on his grades. Kaiser, as well as the other international students, have a much greater preference for in-person classes over remote learning, the primary reason being the interaction with other students and professors, as well as the facility to navigate issues with the readily-available resources on campus. Even though the advanced technologies implemented with the new learning environment enable students to continue their studies abroad, it is often difficult to replicate face-to-face interaction over a screen, and it is even more challenging with time zone differences between countries. Viktor Nagy’s positive and hopeful and perspective on the pandemic’s effect on his life is inspiring. Unlike many other international students, Nagy didn’t go back to his home country, Hungary. Instead, he stayed with some family friends in Montana from March through August 2020, before the start of the fall semester. “I made new friends… new connections, and I’m pretty sure since there was a lockdown in all the areas, I would say that the friendships that I had and that I could maintain got even stronger because of the pandemic— we were holding on to each other and helping each other out. And I hope that happened with other international students as well”, he shared. The pandemic indeed caused a lot of isolation from the social and the physical world, and many not only used this circumstance to get closer to the people to them but also as an opportunity to rethink their lives, like Nagy did. “The loneliness caused by the virus created me the opportunity to plan my goals. And after the 2020 summer, as I came back to Fall 2020 and Spring 2021, I feel like I’m much more goal- oriented. I could clear my mind. I had enough time with my thoughts by myself, and that gave me the opportunity to put everything together, create a system, and go by that system, in terms of my future goals,” he says. Nagy was very productive during lockdown; he kept himself busy by taking summer classes and kept moving forward towards his career goals. He also admires Lindenwood’s amazing support to international students, which was reinforced during the pandemic. The frequent emails and updates students received from the Office of Admissions and Services for International Students (OASIS) served as an “emotional support” for them. And it was with their timely assistance that Luther Guerin, Lindenwood student also from France, was able to return to campus. To say Guerin is excited to be back at the university is an understatement; “blessed” is the right word to describe how he feels: “I like being here because I can keep improving my English and keep living my American dream. It is a blessing to be here and live the life that many people want to live but cannot, so I just feel blessed and enjoy living in the US. There is [sic] also some good aspects about living here, I can go to the gym every day and if I struggle in a class I can go in- person and talk to the teacher.” International students greatly contribute to Lindenwood University’s diversity in student body and learning. Students from over 70 countries promote an accepting and positive community at Lindenwood through the exchange of culture, knowledge, and perspectives about different matters. However, as many international students look into coming back for Fall 2021, Lindenwood cheerfully awaits their return, ready to receive them into their home away from home and help them achieve the success they deserve. THE LINDEN GOLD THE LINDEN GOLD THE LINDEN GOLD (CONTINUED) FUN FACTS ? Did you know that in the late 1960s and early 1970s Lindenwood led an effort by area private colleges to adjust to the changes occurring in higher education at the time? During this period, small private colleges were struggling for existence because of increased Federal and State support to public institutions; and as a result, Lindenwood helped create the Seven College Consortium as a way to share resources. Colleges in this group included Maryville, Webster, and Fontbonne. 1969 Seven College Consortium Representatives. VIKTOR NAGY I made new friends… new connections, and I’m pretty sure since there was a lockdown in all the areas, I would say that the friendships that I had and that I could maintain got even stronger because of the pandemic—we were holding on to each other and helping each other out. And I hope that happened with other international students as well THE LINDEN GOLD CONTRIBUTORS Student Editor Mia Tebbe ‘21 Digital Communications Team Adam Gordon ‘22 Lauren Paulin ‘21 Marleena Garris ‘22 AJ Surrell ‘20 Web Team Lyric Alicea ‘21 Sydney Hembrough ‘22 Writing Team Hazel Denother ‘23 Sanorah Eldred ‘22 Emily Holmes ‘21 Tori Lohmann ‘21 Bianca Sa ‘21 Samia Williams ‘21 Kat Townsend ‘22 Zane Bell ‘22 Amanda May ‘21 Anna Ostmann ‘22