-
Luz Erandi Perez Martinez
-
Mexico - Calgary
Art by Emily Honderich
Luz Erandi Perez Martinez story
Luz Erandi Perez Martinez is a first-generation immigrant that arrived from Mexico to Montreal in 2002. She later moved to Calgary in 2005, where she grew up with her two younger brothers raised by a single mother. Luz Erandi now studies in the Okanagan at the University of British Columbia. For a Bachelor of Science with a major in psychology and a minor in computer science.
My Covid Student Experience
The most memorable weekend of this pandemic occurred on March 13, 2020. It began on that Friday morning as I arrived at my lecture and realized most of the class hadn’t attended. My math professor hinted at the fact that there might not be as many in-person classes happening soon and began to talk about the Vancouver campus complaints about safety. At this point, nobody realized the severity of the situation. I had seen memes of the UBC Vancouver campus explaining the distress they felt as COVID cases were rising in the big city, but I study in UBC Kelowna and by that point, there weren’t any confirmed cases. I, like most of my classmates, went along normally until we received a school-wide email explaining that starting Monday, classes with less than 250 students would be in person while the rest would be online. This meant my classes would be 50/50 online and in person.
Then one hour later, we received another email stating that all our classes and labs on both campuses would shift online indefinitely. This was a shock, and overall a great stress.
We were receiving several individual emails from faculties, professors and the school. I had a math test on Monday and a midterm on Tuesday. I was worried, but I decided to take it one day at a time and prepare as if my tests would be held in person. That weekend, I talked to a friend preparing for the math test. He told me he had no time to study as he was packing to catch the first flight back home to Mexico on the day of the test. Like many of my classmates he was stressed and scared for the future because, at that point, none of us had received any notice that we ould go home. We were still under the impression it would blow over and we’d be taking our final exams in person. This wasn’t the case and most of the residencies emptied in the following week.
Overall, I look back at that weekend and realize that every student had a different experience, but essentially, there was a common feeling throughout the campus; panic for the upcoming future!
"Overall, I look back at that weekend and realize that every student had a different experience, but essentially, there was a common feeling throughout the campus; panic for the upcoming future!"