疫情当下、签证收紧…… 中国学霸的赴美留学之路几经坎坷

疫情当下，美国新冠感染和死亡病例数成倍增长。同时，经历了贸易战和科技脱钩之后，中美两国跌宕起伏的双边关系继续蔓延至教育领域，今年美国政府数次收紧留学生签证政策，目前赴美的学生签证办理业务恢复非常之缓慢 --- 2020年对中国的赴美留学生而言异常艰难。但即便如此，大部分留学生还是坚持自己的留学选择，并为此做出很多努力。

考虑到在家上网课的不便以及零社交生活，大一新生霍大维（芝加哥大学）、李振鹏（宾夕法尼亚大学）萌生了一个想法：把被困在国内的留学生们召集起来，大家一起上网课、一起讨论学习问题、一起打球做游戏、一起吐槽…… 经过一个月的准备，9月他们在中关村的一家写字楼里租了一片场地，他们称之为“Zoom Center”。

与此同时，生活在华东地区的盛云翰（芝加哥大学大一新生）集结了10位来自安徽、上海等地的留学生在黄山一家旅店设立了一家“隐士Zoom Center”，为小伙伴们创造一个安静的学习环境的同时，给大家带来了更多的社交生活。

For these Chinese students headed for U.S. campuses, 2020 is a typically tough year. Apart from COVID-19 lockdowns that have restricted global movement, Beijing-Washington relations have further deteriorated amid crippling trade conflicts and a looming tech decoupling. Four decades of engagement is fast becoming a relic of a bygone era, giving way to belligerence and uncertainty.

Education, which is supposed to be free of politics, has become the latest battleground between the two powers. Starting February, the Trump administration sought to reduce overstays by foreign students, followed by a plan to deport Chinese graduate students majoring in concentrations deemed crucial to national security, and then sweeping restrictions to some 1.5 million international student visas. In 2019, nearly 400,000 Chinese students were enrolled in U.S. universities, making up over a third of all its international students.

Huo Dawei is doing mathematics during an online class in Beijing, China, October 14, 2020. /CGTN

霍大维在去年12月份被芝加哥大学录取，今年3月，美国新冠疫情爆发之后，霍大维成为了美国首批返回中国的留学生之一。当时他还是马萨诸塞州的一名高中生。

“3月初的时候，麻省报告了200多例新冠肺炎病例，我和我的小伙伴基于这个数据建了一个数学模型，”大维在接受CGTN的采访时说。

“通过这个模型，我们预测，到5月份，仅马萨诸塞州就会出现大约13-14万例病例，而全美将达到一二百万，因为传染性疾病的传播是指数增长，每6天翻一番，可美国的核心抗疫理念是“flatten the curve”，不是遏制病毒发展，而是让感染人数平缓，让医疗资源足够。

在学校停课前几天，他买到了直飞北京的机票。之后，在家上网课、零社交生活、黑白颠倒的生物钟成为了大维和其他留学生们的新常态。

因此，大维想为留学生们创设一个自习空间，“让大家既可以24小时自习，在周末还可以参加像纸牌游戏和拼图游戏这样的集体活动。”

Huo Dawei, a freshman at the University of Chicago, has been attending online classes in Beijing since the fall semester began in late September. This March, the 19-year-old, a senior high schooler in Massachusetts back then, became one of the first international students to return to China after the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S.

"I built a mathematical model together with my classmates, based on the number of 200 confirmed COVID-19 patients in Massachusetts in early March," said Huo. "We estimate that by May, Massachusetts alone would see around 130,000 cases and nationwide there would be over a million because transmission rates for infectious diseases are fairly predictable, doubling every six days, and also the core philosophy the U.S. has in fighting coronavirus is 'flattening the curve.'"

He bought one of the last few direct flights back to Beijing days before his school closed. Social distancing, remote learning, working at night and sleeping during the day became the new normal for him and his peers. Moreover, they couldn't see an end to these tough times, as the pandemic continues to unfold amid souring China-U.S. ties in academia long before COVID-19 hit.

Stuck in limbo, Huo wanted to set up a physical space where students like him could have a better learning environment in addition to a social life. "I was mulling over a 24-hour place where young people mired in the gridlock could study on workdays and attend group activities like card games and jigsaw puzzles over the weekend," Huo told CGTN.

Chinese students stuck in limbo are playing a game at Zoom Center in Beijing, China, October 14, 2020. /CGTN

他的这一想法与宾夕法尼亚大学大一新生李振鹏如出一辙，一个月后，他们共同创立了“Zoom Center”。9月13日，Zoom Center开张了，有45个会员。

This idea coincided with that of Li Zhenpeng, who was admitted into the University of Pennsylvania earlier this year. Together they leased an office space in Zhongguancun – home to the city's tech startups and best schools – spruced up the place and posted pamphlets online. They call it "Zoom Center," in a nod to the popular telecommunication software that is being widely used during the pandemic.

"It's both a study lounge and an activity center," Li noted. They currently have 45 members who regularly come to review their lessons, exchange the latest academic information, and also express their concerns about whether they can eventually study in the U.S. and when.

A visa stamp in a foreign passport. Many Chinese students in the U.S. have had their visas revoked. /AFP

芝加哥大学的另一名学生杨泽远开玩笑地称自己是“留学难民”，因为他和许多留学生一样在等待美国大使馆的签证审核。

随着疫情趋于平缓，美使馆的签证业务在逐渐恢复，但过程非常缓慢，有时一天只有一场面试。

盛云翰是芝加哥大学应用数学专业的大一新生，因为担心拿不到这个签证比较焦虑，但已经开始习惯了，“我现在已经不天天去使馆的官网查看我的签证进度了。”

盛云翰非常喜欢数学，之前是想在美国读书，毕业后留下来工作，但是最近，他发现中国的许多公司，特别是高科技企业也很有发展前景，这让他对未来的规划有了新的思考。

Yang Zeyuan, another student at UChicago, jokingly calls himself a "refugee" of studying abroad, since he's one of many people who are waiting for approval to study in the U.S.

"It's difficult to get an interview, and what's worse, even if you get it, the embassy will scrap it at any time," said Ma Liwei, who had just received a new Form I-20 from New York-based Rochester University. As the processing of student visas slowly resumes, his concern is common among Chinese freshmen attending U.S. universities.

Sheng Yunhan, a Zoom Center organizer in eastern China, told CGTN that he was no longer checking the website of the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai. "If there's an interview opportunity, they will let me know." The 18-year-old freshman majoring in mathematics at UChicago is weighing his future plans. "I had planned to seek further education or work in the U.S. upon graduation, but now I'm reconsidering. Many Chinese companies, especially in the hi-tech sector, are doing quite well. Recently I found several jobs posted by Huawei to be very interesting."

Lu Feng is taking an online class at Zoom Center in Beijing, China, October 14, 2020. /CGTN

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