This interview was originally conducted in July 2020, therefore some of the views and opinions expressed in the article might be outdated. The views represented in this article are those of the interviewees and interviewers only, and do not reflect the viewpoints of the Hobby School Alumni Association.

By Nomko Baatar and Oyuka Munkhbat.

We are living through a pandemic right now. From our individual conduct to actions taken by governments, it takes a collective effort to beat the virus and gain any semblance of normality back. All of our unique decisions, already interconnected before a global crisis, now reverberate far beyond our immediate networks. On a broader level, the emergence of a rapidly transmissible virus quickly exposed gaps in existing social welfare and health care policies that previously could’ve been concealed, leading people to doubt their sense of security in their own communities and question their trust in their government's abilities to shield them from a crisis. 

Here are some facts: 

1. We are in the middle of a global pandemic. 

2. Each country has taken very different measures to counteract the spread of COVID-19. 

3. Mongolia has closed its borders since March 2020 and has been flying in a very limited number of charter flights to bring its citizens back in, leaving thousands of Mongolian students and workers stranded abroad. 

4. There are an estimated 1,500 Mongolian students who are pursuing their higher education in the US.

5. The US has the highest count of COVID cases so far, with no indication of the cases coming down any time soon partially due to inconsistent messaging from the federal government and wildly varying measures taken by local governments. Due to the uncertainty of whether the US would be able to contain the pandemic until the development of a vaccine, many US institutions of higher education have decided to make the Fall 2020 semester either fully online or adopt a hybrid model, a combination of online and in-person classes.  

So let’s look at a piece of policymaking that ties the above facts together. On July 6th, 2020, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released a new federal guidance, in relation to COVID-19, that international students would be required to leave the US if they were to take their courses fully online for Fall 2020. In conjunction, the US Department of State (DoS) would not have issued visas to students who would’ve taken courses fully online, and ICE wouldn’t have let those students enter the US. If students did not wish to depart the US, they would’ve needed to transfer to another program that promised in-person courses in order to remain in lawful status. 

This put international students at a severe disadvantage. The proposed policy would have been profoundly disruptive to international students, who often bring the student body diversity that US higher education institutions often laud and advertise. On July 8th, Harvard University president, in addressing this news, wrote, “The order came down without notice—its cruelty surpassed only by its recklessness”, filing a lawsuit from Harvard in conjunction with MIT against ICE. Only a week after their initial guidance release, after facing 8 federal lawsuits, ICE withdrew their decision on July 14th and announced that they'd keep the status quo, allowing international students to remain in the US regardless of how their universities decide to proceed in the fall semester. 

Current Mongolian students in the US are finding themselves caught between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, they are in a precarious situation in a country that’s made it clear that their future is uncertain there. On the other hand, they’re not able to return home to Mongolia because the Government of Mongolia (GoM) still hasn’t opened its borders to the outside, with seats on chartered flights perpetually elusive even to its own citizens. 

With these timely and relevant updates progressing so rapidly, the Hobby School Alumni Association decided to interview three 2018 alums - Khuslen Tulga, Tsenguun Chinzorig, and  Ariunzaya Oktyabri - and get their perspectives on studying in the US, living through the pandemic away from home, and their hopes and fears as they enter new stages of reopening in a country that hasn't flattened its curve yet. 

Tsenguun Chinzorig is a rising sophomore at Haverford College, Pennsylvania, who’s intending to major in Computer Science and Psychology. Since Hobby is largely a humanities based school, he was surprised to find himself drawn to computer science - in his words, it offered him a window into a new world. Haverford shut down its campus in March, so he’s been quarantining in his dorm, occupying himself by organizing potlucks with his classmates, getting regular exercises in, and taking photographs. To keep himself busy in the summer, he's been modifying the course compulsory for students who are interning internationally through CPGC (Center for Peace and Global Citizenship) of Haverford College.

Khuslen Tulga is also a rising sophomore at Hamilton College in upstate New York, who intends to major in Computer Science. Similarly to Tsenguun, she feels that she’s grown accustomed to humanities courses at Hobby - she was in the debate club, after all - but is now taking the chance to take diverse classes like Chinese, Computer Science, and International Relations. She’s also involved with her school’s Coding Team, TEDx Hamilton, the International Student Assembly, the Levitt Leadership Program, and she wants to focus on strengthening international student body experiences on campus.

Ariunzaya Oktyabri, older and wiser than the other two by a year, is a rising junior at Columbia University in New York City, majoring in Economics and Mathematics. She’s currently involved in Columbia Economic Review, the first undergraduate economics journal in the US, where she’s in charge of editing research articles for publication in their fall and spring journals. Columbia, through its Core Curriculum, requires undergraduates to take humanities courses, so she takes a diverse mix of philosophy and literature courses on top of her economics and math classes. She is currently assisting an economics professor in analyzing data related to COVID-19. 

1. Where are you now and how has it been affected by the pandemic? Tell us how your daily life looked like during the quarantine - your routine and the limits of what you were capable of doing outside.

Tsenguun: My daily routine during the quarantine was pretty simple - I ran 5 kilometers every day, took my courses online, and kept in contact with my professors. I also hung out with the other international students who were stuck here because in order to be in a stable and sane headspace, I needed to have close connections. In my state of Pennsylvania, the status of COVID turned green in June, so most gyms and other recreational facilities opened, with most college services also adopting safety measures to support students. 

Ariunzaya: I left campus in March, so my experience has been very different. Right now, I'm in DC, and interning remotely at a private hedge fund in New York, so the majority of my days is spent on spreadsheets and researching stocks and the revenue growth of tech companies. The rest of the days, I spend researching different topics, reading economics papers, and watching TV shows. 

Khuslen: I wish I had a healthy routine like Tsenguun does (laughs). I live in a dorm with around 50 international students, most of whom are planning to stay here through the summer and fall, including me. Routine-wise, I'm volunteering to teach Python to refugee students in Utica through a student-led initiative, and I’m presenting on the emerging ethical dilemmas in technology with the Hamilton students’ ethiCS discussion group. The pandemic was obviously devastating for everyone, but I've been trying to keep myself occupied. In one way or the other, the quarantine encouraged me to become closer to my family through video calls and chats. I feel like if I was in Mongolia, I would be telling them, “Oh, go away” (laughs). 

2. What applications and technology are you using to keep in touch with your loved ones, and how are you prioritizing your mental health?

Tsenguun: I’m thankful that you brought mental health up because, to be honest, I struggled a lot to maintain a good balance and headspace. Communicating with people through technology does help, but it wasn't exactly the first thing I needed to do for myself. At first, it was hard to give the right amount of attention to things that actually had a good impact on my mental health, and in the first few weeks, I definitely misused my time by concentrating on social media. But now I'm familiarizing myself with the “Do not disturb” button on my phone and using Facebook Messenger to connect with my family. Of course, none of us imagined our summers looking like this, but it depends a lot on how the individual person can adapt to this situation. My acclimation was a gradual process, but I’m working on it. 

Khuslen: I’ve been using mainly Zoom, Whatsapp, and Facebook Messenger to communicate. The overuse of social media can be toxic, so my family recommended that I take some time off social media, but also to be aware of what's happening around the world. 

Ariunzaya: I'm staying with my family, so I’m fortunate not to have problems with loneliness and isolation. But in terms of mental health in general, I would say the best thing is just to sleep a lot, even if your circumstances don't permit a lot of hours of sleep, because it really does wonders for your efficiency and productivity.

3. As Tsenguun said, everyone perceives mental health differently, so what does it mean for you? How do you calibrate mental health in relation to the stream of social media that requires our constant attention? 

Ariunzaya: I think how you handle your mental health in relation to social media very much depends on the person's own mental constitution. For example, one person might be affected by something they see on social media while the other person is not. I fall into the latter category. Back in March, I opened a Twitter account where I saw really polarizing content regarding both American and Mongolian politics. You can’t really justify either side - both sides have valuable reasons as to why they think they're correct, and it's really hard to make valid judgments and choose a side. You often can’t tell whether people on Twitter are honest or not, and most people don't take their time to fact check and do their research, tending to believe what they see first. Our first impressions are usually false, because they are not coming from a place of logic. What I really hope for is people to come together and be more tolerant of each others’ views, as everyone tends to drive their conclusions from their own experiences. Learning to listen to others requires a lot of humility, as we are too young to make any solid judgments about the world. We should recognize our biased assumptions and refrain from drawing conclusions too quickly. 

Tsenguun: It's entirely up to the individual person on where they should direct their focus. I’ve struggled with that for a few weeks, maybe still am.

Khuslen: On the topic of tolerating others, I think we should take the time to be tolerant with ourselves. Sometimes, we need to remind ourselves that it is fine to be distracted and unproductive, more so during a pandemic. A few weeks ago, I felt homesick but I bottled it up to not concern my family. After a long consideration, I eventually called Ariunzaya and I opened up about my worries.  I think in that regard, technology does a great job of connecting people. But I do feel like social media can dehumanize people and become toxic - I can go on a whole rant about it, but I’m not going to (laughs). From what I’ve observed, the U.S does a great job of taking advantage of such platforms, in direct contrast to Mongolia, where we have a lack of resources that inform us about important social issues such as the recent elections.

4. Something that plays a big factor in how we make judgments and decisions is certainly not only social media, but also the mainstream media as well, right? How do you moderate yourself in terms of what kind of news you’re consuming, and how you reconcile what you're learning to what's happening around you? 

Tsenguun: Echoing Ariuka’s point, there are so many things that we don't know and that we should do extensive research on. For me, it just boiled down to having productive conversations with my friends and passing that knowledge to my family. I was actually reminded of my friend who was very angry about the riots and everything that was going on in the world. I tried to share my sympathy and ask the right questions to educate myself, but out of frustration, and, justifiably so, I guess, he told me that I was a foreigner of a different race, so I wouldn’t understand. That really struck me.

Khuslen: I've been aware of US problems even before coming here, but I’m realizing that it's different when you actually live here and when your friends are heavily impacted by it. Although it's rare to see protests in Clinton, the media is informing us of any and every event, so the way I stay informed and filter what I’m learning is through conversations with friends here. On the other hand, regarding Mongolian politics, it is unfortunate that I couldn't vote and was forced to take a passive role. I hoped that there was a way to involve the Mongolians abroad, since most of them had no choice but to stay out of the country.

Ariunzaya: I was also quite bothered about not being able to vote in Mongolia for it would have been my first election. Not being able to have a say in what's happening in your country - I think that really goes against what democracy stands for. However, I'm glad that there have been strong youth initiatives to increase young people’s presence in elections, and I'm glad that most of them have been done through social media, which was really impactful. 

Khuslen: Some Instagram accounts such as “Are You Ready” have been doing a lot to encourage voting. Even Mongolian manga artists were encouraging people to vote using their own platforms. I really thought, “Oh, I'm glad that people care”. 

5. Are there any mental health tips that you would like to share, especially having gone through this quarantine? Also, if you have something positive that you've gotten out of this experience, something that you're thankful for, please share them with us.

Tsenguun: The commitment of my friends to have a connection was reassuring. I’ve been applying different lenses to everything I experience, whether it be a connection with someone I know, or studying without the help of my professors, or having productive conversations with my family. I'm trying to see things in a different light, so that has been a very positive impact. 

Khuslen: I spent my first two semesters trying to adapt and be part of the community on campus, which was fun, but I definitely needed time to reflect on how I’ve changed and understand how I fit here. Before I came here, my grandparents pampered me, which I took for granted (laughs). But during this pandemic, sleep, food, and other basic necessities that sound easy actually became hard to do because you’re alone.This experience showed me that even though I’ve always thought I was pretty independent, I've become even more so, and I know that this time alone will help me in the future. 

Tsenguun: Khuslen, what an experience for us first years, coming here to the US for the first time and living through a pandemic! 

Ariunzaya: One positive that I got out of this was rediscovering the joy of learning for the sake of learning. Columbia made all of its classes pass/fail last semester, so we had a lot more time to focus on other aspects of life. I focused more on my internship and learning about topics that are interesting to me rather than just class related stuff. And also just reading without having people to tell you to read.

6. What's been the most interesting thing that you guys discovered or read during the quarantine? 

Ariunzaya: Yesterday, I found out that the thumb of Saint Thomas Aquinas is kept in the Basilica of Sant’ Eustorgio in Milan, which I thought was really cool. 

Tsenguun: I'm reading “What Doesn't Kill Us”, which is about extreme sports and how people physically and emotionally prepare themselves for them - for example, one of the athletes described in the book has extreme ways of coping in a freezing environment. I find it interesting because I want to understand better how we can mentally control our metabolism. 

Khuslen: I'm reading “Almost Transparent Blue” by Ryu Murakami which explores the monotony of addiction, temptation, depression and all the other “-ions” experienced by teenagers. Reading it, I wondered why teenagers have an image of this ideal teenage life, and the need to have a certain lifestyle. I think this book really exploits the topic to the point where it numbs you down, so while I haven’t been reflecting it on my own life, I’ve been empathizing with it.

7. What have been the biggest changes during this pandemic? What actions did your schools take and what were your reactions when you found out you had to go through these tremendous changes? 

Tsenguun: I did understand that classes would eventually be remote, so while I was mentally prepared for that, I still needed to adjust.  My school handled the situation pretty well - everything closed and we adopted new safety measures. We’ve already gotten the decision from the school that we’ll be combining face-to-face courses and online platforms in the fall. Although I’m happy to be informed on what to expect, a big part of me wants my college to have a close discussion with the students about how to proceed in the fall semester. I’m sure there are a lot of financial factors behind it, but there are also many at-risk senior professors here who shouldn't be teaching in a classroom and having one-on-one discussions with students. 

Khuslen: Initially, when the pandemic broke, housing became an issue as I almost got sent off because Hamilton didn’t know that Mongolia closed its borders. But I'm really grateful that Hamilton allowed the international students to stay without charging room and boarding fees while effectively enforcing social distancing measures. Our school will implement a hybrid system for the fall semester with safety measures such as weekly testings and utilizing apps to report our daily medical conditions. But, as we know, people with COVID can be asymptomatic, so I’m concerned about that - but what can we do about it? We're part of history, everything is new, so it is what it is. What happens next semester, I don't know, but whatever happens, I hope I'll be able to go back home in the winter. 

Ariunzaya: Columbia has not announced yet what is going to happen in the fall semester mostly due to the fact that it’s located right in Manhattan. So whatever happens in the city will directly affect Columbia students, as New York City is an integral part of the Columbia experience. If the situation in New York gets too bad, then we can’t reopen safely in the fall, especially given the rising cases. But I know that everyone is hoping for in-person classes as opposed to all classes being remote. From what I understand, we have three semesters to choose from to be back on campus in order to reduce the density of the student population. 

8. And seeing how your respective cities and states are responding to the pandemic, what are your own personal hopes for the fall? Would you prefer to be safe and take classes online, or are you pushing for in-person classes?

Khuslen: The school hasn’t been clear about the decisions they're trying to make, so it’s really hard for me to plan out my own future. Of course, if we are not going to have in-person classes, then I would love to go back home and take online classes from there. But personally, I don't mind having in-person classes because I’m able to focus more without the time zone differences. At the end, I will compromise with Hamilton’s final decision, which is to facilitate courses with a hybrid system.

Tsenguun: Same with my college - everything is just unclear at this moment. I do want to be in class and just learn, especially because the classes that I'm taking this upcoming semester are pretty hard. But I’ve also resorted to the idea that at one point, I will have COVID in my system, whether naturally or through a vaccine, but until then, I definitely want to have an in-class education. However, if all my classes turn remote, then bye-bye America, I'm going back to Mongolia. 

Ariunzaya: I really wish we would have in-person classes because for me, the fundamental strength of Columbia is its academic rigor, which, without in-person classes and interactions with other students, professors, and teaching assistants, is more or less gone. I would not want to waste another year doing the same thing we did in the spring semester. 

9. How have your schools and professors handled this transition from in-person classes to online learning? Also, how did your expectations differ from reality in terms of taking online classes?

Khuslen: My expectation was that professors would be a little bit more lenient with assignments. On the contrary, professors more or less had the same number of projects and assignments, maybe because the classes were pass/fail - my Economics professor actually increased our assignments. Some of my classes adapted really well, like Computer Science and International Relations, but it was a bit difficult for my Chinese class because our professor had a hard time adapting to Zoom. I think the most difficult thing was really the decrease in my motivation to study, but in a way, it was a good way to find out what I liked and what I didn’t. 

Tsenguun: My Chinese professor struggled too (laughs). My Philosophy professor gave all of us 4.0 with no questions asked, which was helpful because it was one of the most well-renowned and academically rigorous philosophy courses in the college. 

Ariunzaya: Yeah, I think Columbia professors were very lenient in terms of grading - they actually lowered the number of assignments and tests, which was helpful. However, one problem I noticed from my circle of friends was that they were worried about their future in academia because they’re aiming to apply to graduate schools, which prefer to see an actual grade rather than a pass/fail mark. 

10. Academia in its current form is definitely changing - we're not looking at the same kind of learning anymore, especially as schools are now dropping their testing requirements because they realize that what people have gone through during this pandemic is unquantifiable. So in terms of what you're looking forward to in your own learning for the next few years, what do you think the future of academia will look like? 

Tsenguun: From my perspective, the necessity to have an in-person education is very clear. It’s a format that’s been followed for the last thousand years, so it's definitely a hard mold to break from. I’ve spent so many years in the same environment and have a set idea of what education looks like and how I’m supposed to learn, so it seems pointless for me to change that, but I guess this year has required so much change where we need to be very swift in terms of decision-making and adapting. 

Ariunzaya: I definitely see in-person classes as a fundamental part of academia, but more so in terms that research universities provide labs, telescopes, and other equipment that are required to make progress in research and are not replaceable by online technology. Maybe liberal arts colleges could more conveniently switch to an online instruction mode, but research-oriented universities wouldn’t be able to sustain this for long.  

Khuslen: A lot of things in academia are being challenged, starting from grading systems to curricula structures. Because the liberal arts college itself is a package consisting not only of academia but also the on-campus experience with other students and professors, it will still hold its value. However, I also think that more people will find online education to be more convenient and less expensive, which would lead to a change in how people perceive education. 

11. On the lighter side of things, what has been the funniest thing to happen during your online classes?

Khuslen: I have a funny story that didn’t happen to me, thankfully (laughs). A student in my Com Sci class forgot to mute himself and we could hear him humming in the background - it made everyone’s day. 

Tsenguun: After finishing our last Chinese class, we tried to take a picture on Zoom with all of our hands creating a heart shape on the screen, but it was not successful. Students were expected to join other classes and it was taking a lot of time, so we came up with the best we could. 

Ariunzaya: I had one professor who struggled with sending emails, which happened even during a final. They were supposed to send it at a certain time, but when it didn’t arrive 20 minutes after it was supposed to, the professor started panicking, and then we started panicking too. The final arrived a full 30 minutes after when we were supposed to start (laughs). 

12. Now that you have fully transitioned into summer vacation, what were you planning to do in the summer when we could still return to Mongolia, and what are you currently doing instead?

Tsenguun: There’s a pretty competitive facility on our campus that fosters and helps students get internships outside of the US, which I got into and was very happy about. The plan was to go back to Mongolia and do an internship with GerHub, which obviously crashed and burned because of the pandemic. As an alternative. I'm just focusing on my classes, getting in touch with my professors, reading, talking to my friends, and keeping up with the three-mile run every day to keep in shape. 

Khuslen: I also wanted to go back home for this summer, and then stay in the US for the remaining three years of college - but now that's changed a little bit, of course. For this summer, I do want to improve my coding and have my own projects on GitHub. Additionally, next month I want to be in charge of international students, maybe teach Mongolian and introduce my culture here on campus. I will continue teaching computer science to the refugees in Utica and holding tech related events.

Ariunzaya: Before my current internship, I originally applied to economics policy research positions in DC, but they were canceled due to COVID. Thankfully, I had one remote finance internship left, which I took. Of course, I would’ve preferred to do economic research because that's the path I want to pursue in the future, but at the same time, you have to make do in these situations and try your best even if your circumstances may not permit it. 

13. And it's good to have different experiences - take it as an opportunity to explore a different field, which you may end up loving and getting into. But since we touched on wanting to go back home and, earlier, not being able to vote, I want to talk a little bit about how Mongolia has handled the pandemic. What could’ve been done better and what’s been the most frustrating part for you? 

Khuslen: The good thing is that Mongolia has taken COVID very seriously, acknowledging that we're only three million people, and immediately closed its border. But there's been a lot of controversy surrounding bringing back citizens who are outside of Mongolia. Families want their kids back, but when it comes to others, they think, “Oh, it's better if we stay safe and keep the borders shut”, so it's all about perspective. My family has been supportive of GoM’s actions, but we’ve been discussing their questionable spending - even though we were able to get funding from the IMF when we’re in so much debt, why are we not increasing the amount of charter flights, and instead celebrating Naadam, for example? 

Tsenguun: There was definitely a point where I was very pissed about the decisions the GoM made. I was frustrated by my own circumstances when I witnessed my friends pulling strings to get seats on the planes back - it was hard to be happy for them, but, at the same time, being safe at my college put my mind at peace. The GoM definitely did the right thing initially, and I'm very proud of them, but just from a position of someone who can’t get back in, as someone who knows people with chronic diseases and financial difficulties who are psychologically poorly reacting to this situation, it's hard to say that the government is doing the right thing currently. Of course, most of my impressions are coming from the frustration on behalf of all the citizens who are stuck here, including myself. 

Ariunzaya: Yeah, completely agree with Tsenguun. The government has released the decision that we won't open our borders until a vaccine becomes available, which makes no sense because no country has a vaccine right now, and who knows how long it's going to take until there is one that actually works. And until then, for the government to have hundreds of people suffer outside of the country is an unjust situation.

14. We're also looking at a number of different countries that have responded to the pandemic very differently. From what you’ve observed, what are the most successful approaches that could be implemented both in Mongolia and the US? 

Khuslen: I wish Mongolia didn't stop their K-12 education completely, especially because we didn't have any local COVID transmissions. Even though the lockdown wasn't strictly held, a lot of students suffered from it disproportionately. In the U.S, people need to take the virus seriously - it's weird that the existence of COVID has been politicized and debated, that people are questioning whether wearing masks is helpful. 

Ariunzaya: I hope Mongolia is supporting small businesses. Since I'm not in the country right now, I don't know what the situation is like with stores, how it affected the private sector and the education system, but I hope that they will at least loosen some of the restrictions so that some parts of the economy can return to normal. At the end of the day, the economy needs to be in good shape for people to pay back their debts, make investments, and so on. I think if we have some sort of restrictive system with good regulations in place and clear hygiene processes, it could be possible to reopen the economy and be safe at the same time. 

Tsenguun: Definitely. In Mongolia, we should definitely prioritize education in the fall, but I feel like there is this illusionary panic right now that the virus is already seeping into the country. We should rightfully be worried about it, but are we actually dealing with it? It takes courage and hope at a time like this to make decisions, which seem absent in Mongolia right now. I’m pissed about it, but I am hopeful about a future where they will eventually be present in Mongolia. 

15. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. So now that we're looking toward the future, what are your Naadam plans? 

Tsenguun: For me, last year’s Naadam was very different. I guided well off tourists in the traditional Naadam festivals and horse races even though it was my first time ever attending those events myself, so it was very hard for me to appropriately describe everything to them. But this year, I'll video call my family and talk about the taste of airag, khorkhog, and just miserably imagine myself back home sharing the Naadam experience with my family. 

Khuslen: But Tsenguunee, one day we will eat them again - as long as we're healthy now. I will probably try to spend some time with my college friends and video call my grandparents and stream the MNB Naadam festival online.

Ariunzaya: We’re not doing anything because there's no point in that (everyone laughs). The Naadam opening in the stadium is always the highlight for me, so if that's not going to take place, better use that money to revitalize the economy.

16. Do you have any advice you would like to share both with Mongolian students who are planning to come to the US in the fall and with those who are considering applying this year? 

Tsenguun: For students who are planning to come here, my advice would be to take things slow. I tend to be very pessimistic, but everything is going to be new and it will be harder to make connections in the fall. But in another way, there will be chances to connect with strangers using this troublesome year as a common ground, and foster relationships based on that. I was very demanding in terms of connecting to people, which paid off well for me. Everyone will definitely prioritize their health, which you should be respectful of, because during this time your health should be the top priority, and your education should come after.

Khuslen: Yeah, don't party, not yet (laughs). My gap year experience was incredibly helpful, so if someone is thinking of taking a year off, I would highly recommend them to do so, especially during this hectic time. For those who are planning to apply, I’m sure the admissions process will be relatively different, with different universities placing more importance on personal statements and extracurricular activities rather than GPAs and test scores. Since most classes and clubs are being facilitated online, I would even encourage you to reach out to your intended colleges and ask if you can take part in them. Most people regret things they haven’t done rather than what they’ve done, so trust your own judgment.

Ariunzaya: The most important thing during this pandemic and the years afterwards is to not lose hope. It's a dark time for high school seniors and juniors in the sense that you already don't know what's going to happen and everything is so vague, and the pandemic exasperated that feeling so much more. Make sure to be mindful of your goals, and know that even if you don't get into that one specific college you want, it’s not the end of the world - there are so many more opportunities where you will prosper equally. One of my Economics professors shared a quote with us a year ago that goes, “When the going gets tough, the tough gets tougher”. What I take from it is that we should use this time to build our own character, to show strength in the face of adversity, and, most importantly, to not lose hope in the future.