International Student-Athletes Persevere in Online Learning Environment

The early stages of the Coronavirus outbreak in the United States brought with it a lack of clarity regarding the future. This was mirrored within the collegiate athletics community with an indeterminate future regarding the spring semester.

On March 12th, the Temple Athletics community was offered clarity through the unfortunate news of the suspension of spring competition and the cancelation of in person classes.

A joint email from high level academic administration bore the news that for the remainder of the academic year, classes would be held online, and students living on campus housing would have to vacate by March 21st.

For student-athletes from the US Eastern Seaboard, the transition came without a direct change to the timing of their daily activities. However, for student-athletes overseas, this change provided great difficulty in their scheduling.

For Temple women's tennis sophomore and Changsha, China native, Yining Tian, her schedule consisted of flipping AM and PM, "I have to take my classes at 2AM and 3AM on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and I have a 'night class' on Thursday morning."

Many teachers are offering accommodations to students similar to Tian, through availability of pre-recorded class lectures to be watched at the student's convenience. However, while some classes are conforming to student's schedules, Tian's teammate, Oyku Boz has expressed difficulty in coordinating with her classmates while she is home in Kocaeli, Turkey. She explains, "I still have group projects and presentations so I have to meet my teams over Zoom which makes me stay up until 5AM in the morning or I set an alarm along those times to be up for the meetings."

Outside of academics, it has become more and more difficult for student-athletes to remain in top shape without access to Temple's training facilities. Temple volleyball junior, Selina Merfol has had to get creative with her training practices all the way in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. "I do not have any equipment or volleyball stuff to practice with, and I am doing home workouts that my strength coach has prepared for me," said Merfol.

Student-Athletes have been able to reflect on the value of communication with their coaches to be able to make the most out of an unfortunate time in their lives. Volleyball's Miray Bolukbasi, a native of Istanbul, Turkey, gave an individual thank you to Director of Olympic Sports Performance and Volleyball Strength Coach Tim Teefy, on his ability to provide them with a valuable program.

The efforts from Coach Teefy are present throughout the entire athletic department. Tennis player Stefaniya Surikova, a native of Lipetsk, Russia, offered some insights into her experience during COVID-19. "Everyone is trying to help as much as they can, which makes you feel that you always have support, no matter where you are," said Surikova.

Student-Athletes have continued to thank the Athletic Department for their response to this crisis and continued efforts to make it easier on them. "My coaches and the athletic department of our school also support us, which means a lot to me," added Bolukbasi.

Through these uncertain times, there are several sentiments that can be shared by student-athletes across the world. Surikova explained this sentiment in saying "I look forward to being on campus around my friends and teammates, playing my sport and studying in the classroom."

Temple University Athletics

International Student-Athletes Persevere in Online Learning Environment

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