International students develop bonds while on campus this spring

This spring has been one of the quietest on record on the Roanoke College campus, with almost the entire student body leaving campus in mid-March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Only a few dozen students finished out the semester on campus, remaining there for a variety of reasons. For the most part, they were students who weren’t able to get home due to travel restrictions related to the pandemic, or they had on-campus jobs that had to remain filled.

In some cases, unlikely friendships formed. Take, for instance, 22-year-old Gaston Ocampo ‘20, and Chunhee Jung ‘21, who is 65. 

Ocampo is an international student from Argentina; Jung is from South Korea. Ocampo still hasn’t been able to return to Argentina, and Jung wasn’t able to return to South Korea until the end of the semester. She went back to South Korea only recently and was in mandatory, government-ordered quarantine for two weeks as soon as she entered the country.

But while Ocampo and Jung were on Roanoke’s campus this spring, they developed a tight bond. The two — with Boogii Gankhuyag ‘21, an international student from Mongolia  — spent a great deal of time together, doing homework and learning about each other’s home countries, cultures and cuisines.

Ocampo said he learned more than just cooking tips from Jung. He said Jung’s life experience, from her family’s experience during the Korean War to growing up Buddhist and converting to Catholicism, was fascinating. Ocampo said Jung made him feel much better about the uncertainty he’s currently experiencing as a recent graduate.

In particular, Jung used the example of a crouched frog to encourage Ocampo.

“Why is the frog sitting down?” Jung asked Ocampo. “It is thinking about her next move and getting ready to jump. Right now you are that frog, so don’t worry. You will be fine.”

Jung  said Ocampo and Gankhuyag were able to teach her a thing or two as well.

“Gaston has a deep, generous, honest mind. [He] tries to help Boogii like an elder brother, and helped me like a son,” Jung said. 

Ocampo, who finished off two majors and an Honors Distinction project before graduating this spring, also said getting to know Jung was like adding a new member to his family. The two have remained in touch virtually since Jung returned to South Korea, even as Jung had irregular internet access during her time in mandatory quarantine. Jung has already invited Ocampo to visit Korea whenever international travel is safe again. 

“People in Asia call others ‘auntie’ or ‘aunt’ as a way of respect to older people.” Ocampo said. “[Jung] is very much an auntie, like a grandmother, for me.”