Students Crafting Their Way through a Pandemic: A Qualitative Study of International Students

Abstract

This study captured the experience of 41 international students pursuing their studies in Berlin, Germany, during the pandemic. The students were interviewed in May 2021 and again in January 2022, and asked to recount their experience starting from the initial lockdown in March of 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, up until the time of their interviews. A four-step thematic content analysis approach was used to analyze the data retrieved from transcribed interviews. The findings revealed that students crafted their way through the pandemic by engaging in several changes to adjust and adapt to the challenges and uncertainties associated with the pandemic. The result showed changes in two main categories (task and relational) which were further delineated into themes (physical and cognitive changes).