Forced to cancel many events due to local infection clusters, the students of the Department of English Language and Literature at FJCU in the Students’ Association have felt the impact of COVID-19 not only on annual activities such as the cancellations of the Freshman Tea Party, Freshman Orientation Camp, among others, but also on their mental health and a greater amount of administrative work while enforcing and following epidemic control regulations.
The English Department Students’ Association (ENGSA) has been planning events and activities for every student in the English Department to acclimate and interact with each other. However, many of these were canceled due to the outbreak of COVID-19. This has seriously impacted the 21st English SA’s event planning methods, the relationship between seniors and underclassmen, and English SA members’ physical and mental health as well.
All members of the 21st ENGSA after the Year-End Party on Nov. 22nd. Photo provided by ENGSA.
The Impact of These Cancelations Three activities have been canceled since the 21st English SA took charge: Freshmen Orientation Camp, Freshmen Gatherings, and the Department Trip. According to the members of ENGSA, canceling the “Orientation Camp” was the worst since this activity was the biggest event they planned as a group. “The Orientation Camp is not only the biggest event that we as chair and vice chair will be in charge of, but also the biggest accomplishment we will have, since no other activity has the scale of the Orientation Camp,” said Mia Lin, the Chair of the 21st English Department Students’ Association.
The Orientation Camp involved numerous games, night-time activities, performances, food, etc., to welcome freshmen into the English Department. This year, the Orientation Camp was canceled two months before the actual event was scheduled to take place. By then, most planning was already done.“It is so frustrating how there is no possible way for us to make people see all the efforts we made," Mia said. “Since all the activities were canceled.”
The Freshmen Gatherings while not hosted by the ENGSA was a great opportunity for members to promote upcoming events. It was also a great chance for freshmen to meet their seniors and ask questions about their future at Fu Jen University. The event-planning team leader, Cindy Lin, was quite concerned about being deprived of these opportunities. “Not having the camp and the gathering makes it harder for us to bond with this year’s freshmen,” Cindy said. “Compared to last year, we lost the chance to directly interact with the freshmen. This could also lower their desire to participate in other events, since no one would want to come without knowing any seniors.”
Events being canceled can also affect the future ENGSA. “We rely much on the documents of outgoing-seniors when planning events. They help us learn from our seniors’ mistakes and imitate what they did well,” Lin said. “However, without holding the events there will be no documents for the next successors to learn from.”
The Impact on Students’ Attitude and Mental Health The uncertainty of whether activities will be canceled generates pessimism and causes immense stress and anxiety for the members of the English Students’ Association. With the outbreak of COVID-19 , many activities were canceled, and Taiwan went into level three alert for nearly half a year. The uncertainty of another outbreak means “We don’t know for sure whether the next activity will be canceled,” said Yoyo Wu and Henry Chang, members of the public relations team. “So we ask ourselves, how much are we willing to do for an activity that might not even be held? Given that the Freshmen Orientation Camp was canceled two months before the actual event, we are pessimistic when it comes to putting in all the effort. All our hard work would just go away in only one night, the games we prepared, the things we bought to decorate the venue, the posters, etc. We just don’t know if it’s worth it.”
As the chair of ENGSA, Mia feels it’s important to comfort the members when events get canceled. “I think the hardest part is breaking bad news to my members,” said Mia. “I try my best to not make canceling events sounds too bad, but that’s impossible. I care about the members’ mental condition a lot, but it is so hard to strike a balance between taking care of the members’ feelings and announcing that the event had to be canceled.”
Left: Peko Hu, chief secretary of 21st ENGSA / Right: Mia Lin, chair of 21st ENGSA. Photo provided by ENGSA.
The Impact of Uncertainty under COVID-19 “One of the greatest changes might be doing everything online,” said Amy Teng. “Typing documents is simple, but it is difficult to have productive online meetings.” When asked about which methods they prefer, online or in-person meetings, almost all members replied they prefer in-person meetings. “It’s just easier to get things done,” said Sylvia Zhan, the vice chair of the Association. “When we have in-person meetings, we can judge from members’ facial expressions to know whether they like an idea or not, even if they said nothing. But when it comes to online meetings, everyone keeps their cameras off. Perhaps they feel shy or feel unpresentable, but it sure makes decisions harder to make.” Amy, one of the members of the event-planning team also added, “most people prefer typing instead of replying through microphones. This actually doubles the presenter’s work since they have to check the message inbox in between presentations, which leads to low efficiency.”
21st ENGSA's weekly in-person meeting after coming back to school. Photo provided by 21st ENGSA.
Preparation before events is also doubled because of the school and government’s COVID-19 regulations. Paperwork must be submitted to ensure that each event abides by the rules. The PR team also must find venues that are big enough for participants to keep a safe social distance. It is also mandatory for all members to prepare extra face masks, rubbing alcohol, and thermometers. Staff also need to be aware if anyone didn’t put on face masks during events. “Although these extra procedures can be a little tiring, they are necessary,” said Cindy. “The school’s policy is actually very easy to abide by since they are the same as the government’s. However, the rules haven’t been changed a bit since May. FJU is very slow when it comes to changing policies to fit the current situation.”