Ukrainian student finds support at Winnipeg school

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This article was published 31/03/2022 (1000 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Being a full-time university student is hard enough, with classes, assignments, exams and late-night studies.

Anastasiia Seleznova has the added anxiety of fearing for the safety of her family who are in Ukraine as a Russian invasion force wages battle for control of the eastern European country.

Seleznova, 25, is in her third year of media and communication studies at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg.

“It’s hard to keep my mind on my studies,” because of the war, she said, noting it is a special challenge for her as a “super perfectionist.”

“I might not be able to do my maximum this semester. I will have to do just the best I can now.”

Losing a week of classes last month exacerbated the problem: Seleznova went to Poland to help her nine-year-old sister, Manko, escape the war in Ukraine.

Manko is now in Winnipeg, along with the siblings’ mother, who came for a visit before the war and is unable to return to Ukraine.

Seleznova’s father, stepfather, grandparents and other relatives and friends are still in the country, living in Kharkiv, just 30 kilometres from the border with Russia — “One of the hotter spots in the war zone,” she said.

What helps keep her going is the support she is getting from CMU staff and faculty.

“Everybody has been so helpful,” Seleznova said, adding her professors have granted extensions for assignments and been considerate of the stress she is feeling.

“We’ve received lots of help with information and practical advice,” she said. “They have also provided me with a lot of emotional support. My mother and sister are feeling at home already.”

One of the people offering assistance is Sandra Loeppky, co-ordinator of CMU international student and accessibility programs.

As an advocate and friend, Loeppky has been helping Seleznova find food, clothing, documentation and health insurance for her sister, along with other practical assistance.

“We all appreciate how hard it is for Anastasiia to focus on her studies now,” Loeppky said, adding she is working with two other Ukrainian students at the university.

“The key thing is always: what is the best way forward for them.”

Loeppky recounted conversations with Seleznova where she talked about waking at night with her heart racing from worry about family in Ukraine.

“It’s hard to be a student under those conditions,” Loeppky said.

For staff and faculty, this is a “growing edge” for supporting students.

“We have to do more trauma counselling,” Loeppky said, noting there are students from other countries who also come from difficult situations in their homelands.

“We are constantly alert to how that plays out in their daily life as students.”

Providing trauma and mental health support is challenging, Loeppky said, since international students come from many different locations.

“We have to learn how to help in ways that are appropriate for different cultures. For some, there still may be stigma attached to reaching out for that kind of support or the way we want to help doesn’t match what they are used to.”

For Loeppky, supporting a student such as Seleznova is “stretching me in many different ways as I hear her talk about the war in Ukraine. Now I hold that burden in my own life, too.”

There are 81 students from 30 countries in Europe, South America, Africa and Asia attending CMU this year, down from 125 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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