Three months ago I woke up, slipped on my running sneakers, and put in my earbuds to listen to that day’s NPR: Up First podcast. Hosts David Greene and Rachel Martin were discussing a new disease called coronavirus (COVID-19) which was racing through China. The virus seemed so far away, yet became a grave situation which would soon prohibit Conn students from studying abroad that semester in China. Flashforward, and coronavirus has infiltrated northern Italy at growing rates, causing the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to raise the emergency level to 3. This update has prompted study abroad programs across the country to send their students back to the United States.
Symptoms of this respiratory disease include fever, cough, and shortness of breath, all of which may appear 2-14 days after exposure, according to the CDC website. When the cases began to increase in Italy, my study abroad program Brown in Italy, along with the University of Bologna which we have matriculated into for the semester, sent out emails with documents explaining prevention. Currently, there is no vaccine to cure COVID-19; instead the CDC encourages people to take preventative action ranging from avoiding those who are sick, washing your hands, disinfecting your home, and staying home if you yourself begin to feel sick.
I have been dreaming about studying abroad since high school. The Toor Cummings Center for International Studies and the Liberal Arts (CISLA) — one of the five academic centers at Conn which allows students to complete a summer internship abroad and conduct a senior year integrative project (SIP) — has given me the opportunity to complete an international internship, but now that is all moot. Let’s all think about happier things like that Friends episode when Joey learns some new vocab… at least I will be able to watch the reunion episode on HBO now.
In the two months since I have arrived in Bologna, not once have I feared catching the virus –– especially since the virus only seriously threatens elderly people and those with compromised immune systems. My program of 40 students went on a day excursion to Parma, Italy –– a city in the Emilia Romagna region (which also includes Bologna) that was one of the first cities where a person later afflicted with COVID-19 traveled. Since then, the Office of International Programs (OIP) for Boston College closed their program in Parma, according to an article published in The Heights, the independent student newspaper at Boston College.
The OIP for Brown in Italy sent out an email at 2:36 AM (Italy time) on Saturday Feb. 29 suspending the program after the U.S. Department of State raised Italy to a travel advisory of a level 3. At this level, it is strongly encouraged to avoid non-essential travel to said country. Students now have the option to withdraw from the program and be refunded, but obtain no course credit, or continue taking online courses via Unibo.
At the time of our trip to Parma, we made jokes about not touching door handles, and constantly drenched our hands in scented hand sanitizer. To date, there have still been no cases in Bologna, but there have been a total of 889 total reported cases in Italy with a high concentration in northern cities including Milan, Veneto, and Lombardy. Carnevale, a yearly event similar to Mardi Gras which takes place primarily in Venice in the Veneto region, ended two days earlier than scheduled due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to BBC News. Some attendees of the festivities adorned coronavirus costumes instead of the typical festive Venetian masks. Many students in the Brown in Italy program, including myself, have traveled to Venice for a weekend to enjoy the water show, street food, and gondolas.
American Study Abroad programs including NYU Florence have sent their students back to the states. While NYU said their students will hopefully be able to return to their Florence location by March 29, it is unclear whether this will be the same fate for other programs. Students in the Brown in Italy program can continue taking online courses to obtain credit for the semester. While this is an option, it is inadequate as we chose to study abroad in Italy to be immersed in a culture and language. Listening in on weekly lessons from the safety (as of now) of our home is not equivalent to the immersion we have experienced up to this point. Alternatively, students can withdraw entirely from the program. Either way, students will be reimbursed for housing and/or tuition.
Kathryn Blanco, a junior at Georgetown University and former student of the Brown in Italy program, left Sunday March 1 for the states. She stated that she is not particularly concerned about becoming sick, but rather being quarantined on her way home, or not being able to graduate on time; “I’m hoping I can still graduate on time, but I also don’t want to spend a semester taking classes online that I originally chose for the opportunity to immerse myself in Italian.”
Makena Gera, a junior at Marist College, was studying abroad at the LdM Institute in Florence up until a few days ago when her parents pulled her from the program. Two days after she arrived in the states, LdM officially called back all students at the Florence campus. Like me, Gera was not concerned about the virus while abroad, but explained that her concern has grown now that she is home and understanding that it’s actually very dangerous. Nonetheless, she was devastated to have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity taken away because of an arbitrary event which we could not control. “The most devastating part is how long I’ve been waiting for this experience, how much money I saved and how hard I worked to be able to do it, and now it’s over after only one month,” explains Gera.
I am trying to grapple with the fact that I may not be able to complete my CISLA internship abroad if the situation in Italy does not stabilize. I am trying to find ways to comfort myself as I scroll through my Instagram feed watching students in other European countries posting about their time abroad. I am struggling to find a reason for why this is happening.
At the same time, I am realizing my privilege. My privilege to have had the opportunity to study abroad––even for a short while. My privilege to be in a country which has seen less deaths from COVID-19 than China or Iran. My privilege to have the means to return home and still hopefully obtain college credit. My privilege to be healthy and young.
Studying abroad is not meant to be easy. I have felt homesick, overwhelmed, and confused about how the Italian university system works (let me just say that registration for Conn is a piece of cake in comparison). Never did I imagine coronavirus would affect my semester abroad. I should have stuck with French. (Just kidding!) If I had known how my semester would end, I would have still come to Bologna. If I didn’t have these weeks, I wouldn’t have been able to make pasta by hand, visit northern Italian cities (before corona showed up), or bond with so many wonderful American and Italian students. We will always have Bologna.
Catch me at Floralia wearing a coronavirus costume! •
Photo: Elizabeth Berry in Padova
