At the end of this year, the world's largest search engine Google released its 2021 Year in Search.
This year, the world collectively searched for "how to heal". The search volume for this keyword reached a historic high, three times higher than before.
Today, CheersYou（清柚教育） will take you through the 2021 Year in Search keywords that are closely related to us international students.
In 2021, accompanied by unprecedented loneliness and uncertainty, we looked inward at ourselves:
How to stay strong?
How to take care your mental health?
How to be yourself? What is my purpose?
Yearly Keyword: How to Stay Strong?
In 2021, the world wanted to know how to stay strong more than ever before.
In July-August, the Summer Olympics, delayed by one year, were held in Tokyo. At a time when the world faced common difficulties, it showcased the beauty of sports and the limitless potential of humanity.
In this special year, the international student community also did their best to stay strong during the back-to-school season: better academic results, stronger self-reliance, higher stress resilience...
Yearly Keyword: How to Take Care of Mental Health?
In 2021, the world paid more attention to maintaining mental health than ever before.
The responsibilities shouldered by healthcare workers, the pressure of job changes due to the pandemic... As international students, we have also been facing challenges in maintaining good mental health:
How to learn introspection and solitude during online classes, how to prepare psychologically before returning to campus, how to alleviate anxiety during a pandemic job search, and so on.
Yearly Keyword: How to Be Yourself?
Japanese writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa once wrote: "Sometimes people spend their entire lives pursuing wishes they don't know will come true; those who restrain and suppress their own pursuits are merely spectators of life."
In 2021, collectively facing a communal inner struggle, people wanted more than ever to clarify their pursuits and how to be their true selves. Ethnic pride, sexual orientation pride, and more tolerant aesthetic standards repeatedly demonstrated to the world the diversity of self.
Beyond the pursuits sparked by personal identity, our pursuits are also connected to the world.
In 2021, having learned to coexist with loneliness and the unknown, we also did not forget to care for the world outward.
Yearly Keyword: How to Help My Community?
In 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic made people more concerned than ever about the health of themselves, their loved ones, and their communities: every day, millions of people asked important questions about their health through Google searches.
Around the world, people actively searched for information about COVID-19 vaccination and testing. The top "near me" searches of 2021 were "Covid vaccine near me" and "Covid test near me".
Many people lent a helping hand in times of crisis, connecting personal pursuits with their communities. According to Google search trend data, in 2021, vaccination volunteer became the world's most searched type of volunteer.
The international student community is also helping individuals and communities in its own way. Studying abroad alone, international students know that good physical health is the foundation of everything and have been closely monitoring information on vaccines and nucleic acid testing.
On various social media platforms, international students actively share mutual aid strategies about COVID-19 monitoring, vaccination, and how to self-recover after accidental infection, hoping that their experiences can help those in need.
Yearly Keyword: How to Stop Hatred
In 2021, against the backdrop of the pandemic, inequalities and social contradictions in different countries and regions, and even within the same country, became clearer to people and sparked global reflection.
With news reports of violence against Asian Americans in the U.S., searches for hate crimes worldwide hit a record high in March. And how to stop Asian and Asian American hate is closely related to the social environment in which the international student community lives.
This year, we experienced anger and fear: the mass shootings targeting Asians in the Atlanta area, attacks on Chinese students in Sheffield, the fatal shooting of a University of Chicago international student by an armed robber...
We want our voices to be heard: a series of rallies related to stopping Asian hate were held globally, and the international student community held marches to commemorate the deceased and demand that schools ensure student safety.
We saw the capabilities of Asians and perhaps signs of improvement: Asian woman Michelle Wu became Boston's first female mayor and first mayor of color.
Yearly Keyword: How to Help Our Planet?
In 2021, the world paid more attention than ever to the impact of climate change, as extreme weather disasters around the globe profoundly affected people's lives.
In July 2021, searches for fires and floods erupted globally. Climate and weather conditions, as important factors in choosing a school, and natural disasters such as frequent floods and raging wildfires, added another layer of uncertainty to the lives of international students.
People everywhere are still thinking about how to help our planet on which we depend: in response to historic wildfires, there was a burst of searches across the U.S. on how to become a volunteer firefighter; after the oil spill in Southern California, oil spill volunteer became a hot search in that state; globally, the search interest for sustainability hit a record high...
Yearly Keyword: When Can We Go Home?
In 2021, coexisting with moments of introspection and outward outlook was people's longing for home.
This year, different countries and regions issued travel advisories or control policies related to the pandemic at various times, limiting people's travel flexibility to a certain extent. This was especially true for international students planning to go home during vacations or after graduation:
In addition to facing expensive airfare, constantly changing entry-exit policies, the risk of infection during travel, and the indispensable quarantine procedures... they also had to bear the rejection and lack of understanding from some people back home.
Regarding Google's yearly trending keywords, perhaps everyone has their own inner answer, or perhaps there is no clear answer.
Everyone is still searching for the best answer. We also collectively hope that in the new year, the world will become better. Only by believing can we move forward better.
Source: Google News Lab
