​At 6 am, when there was barely any light outside, my alarm clock rang. I woke up, and contemplated why I would do this to myself instead of sleeping in more. While I was almost ready to give in and go back to sleep, my phone rang. It was Chakriya, a SHE-CAN scholar in my class but at another school, calling me to make sure I was awake. We had both agreed to wake up early together to get our school work done, in order to hold ourselves accountable in this new world we are all living in.

​I’m not going to lie and say that everything is fine because it’s not. It is an emotional roller coaster to be away from home in the midst of a crisis like this. I am so grateful for our mentors, the SHE-CAN staff and our schools, who are all working so hard to provide us with a place to stay, food and healthcare. Despite having to deal with the pandemic themselves, they are still dedicated to helping and supporting all of us to the best of their ability, and for that, I am forever grateful.

​Like many other students right now, I am adjusting to taking classes online. Chakriya and I often wake each other up through calls, and proceed to tackling our daily tasks while leaving our video call on. It is encouraging to know that even though we are all reinforcing social distancing, I feel closer to my friends and family more than ever before. I talk to my SHE-CAN sisters almost every day.

​With my SHE-CAN sisters, since we are almost always going through the same things, we often check-in with each other. Before coming to the U.S., we talked about which schools we wanted to apply to and what to pack. When we started our freshman years, we would check-in about how each of us we’re doing in school. Now, we’re finding ourselves discussing our situations given coronavirus and whether we should make the decision to go back home or stay in the U.S. Regardless of the decision each of us makes, I know we will have each other’s backs.

​I am grateful to know that I have the support of everyone around me, especially during this time. I was really looking forward to my spring break in D.C., but it was cancelled because of the current situation with coronavirus. I still found ways to have fun with my SHE-CAN sisters. We had a karaoke night on zoom, and had a fancy remote dinner party from each of our dorms! My mentor team also calls to check in on me, and we keep in touch through Whatsapp. I try to practice French with Sandra, share cute cat pictures with Erin, and Michelle and Sibel send me funny videos and virtual bouquets of flowers.