Pursuing Unique International Experiences during COVID
“I thought that even in the worst-case scenario — if everything locked down, all my classes went online, and I couldn’t leave the house — I’d still rather be in France living with a host family,”
Determination, flexibility and a healthy sense of adventure were required for the KU students who sought study abroad experiences during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While fewer KU students traveled abroad during the global pandemic, an increasing number are finding creative ways to pursue their goals of gaining international experience. In the spring of 2021, 18 students participated in international education or research abroad programs and another 105 students participated in summer programs. Also, in the past two years, 106 students have taken the emerging alternative of virtual study abroad and internship programs.
“Studying abroad during COVID-19 required significant preparation by students and an understanding of the unique opportunities and challenges of international travel at this time. Those students who pursued their goals of studying abroad exhibited tremendous resiliency, adaptability, dedication, determination and maturity. They made the most of their time, immersing themselves in their host communities and truly living life as a local,” said Angela Perryman, director of Study Abroad & Global Engagement.
For many, like Jeddrek Rowden, a study abroad experience required shifting plans and reframing expectations.
Rowden is a senior from Lucas, Kansas, who is majoring in political science and women, gender and sexuality studies with a minor in German. In 2020 as COVID spread, it became clear that his dream of studying abroad in Germany for an entire academic year wasn’t feasible. So, Rowden pushed back his plans to travel to Germany from fall 2020 to the following spring, which is when he spent a semester at the University of Regensburg.
Knowing that his classes would be taught online and travel throughout the country would be limited, Rowden reframed his expectations around studying abroad. He saw it as an opportunity to live in Germany as an adult would, working a 9-to-5 job with evenings free.
“I changed my perspective to this will be a more real experience of what life would be like in Germany, not necessarily as a student, but just as someone who is living in Germany daily,” Rowden said. “It helped me feel more comfortable about going abroad and gave me different expectations.”
Katie Price, a senior history major, had applied for the summer 2020 program in Paris. When that program was canceled due to COVID, she applied to study abroad in the fall. That too was canceled. This spring she was able to attend Centre Internationale d’Etudes Françaises (CIDEF) of the Université Catholique de l’Ouest, a French language program at a small, private university in Angers.
“I thought that even in the worst-case scenario — if everything locked down, all my classes went online, and I couldn’t leave the house — I’d still rather be in France living with a host family,” Price said.
For Price, the silver lining has been the opportunity to study abroad for an entire semester, not just for one month in the summer as she had originally planned.
During summer 2020, Arianna Fallahian received an email promoting a four-week, advanced-level Spanish course taught virtually by faculty at the Universidad de San Andrés in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
“I remember thinking COVID has completely disrupted my summer plans, I don’t have much to do, I’m in the house all day, I might as well get ahead on my Spanish minor,” said Fallahian, who graduated this spring with a degree in behavioral neuroscience and a minor in Spanish.
The course was taught by several professors, who incorporated Argentine culture and history into lessons and projects.
“I always wanted to study abroad, but I didn’t know how I would be able to fit a whole semester into my college plan. This allowed me to get a partial experience at a time when nothing else was going on,” she said.
The global pandemic altered the traditional study abroad experience, but it also allowed students to witness history and learn how other cultures responded to COVID.
During part of Price’s time in France, theaters, museums and restaurants were closed. Curfews were set at 7 p.m. and residents couldn’t travel more than five miles from their place of residence. Still, Price was able to connect with her host family and meet classmates during her in-person French language courses.
“There was a lot of conversation around the idea of what is essential and the value of cultural institutions,” Price said.
During parts of Rowden’s stay in Germany, only essential businesses, such as grocery stores and pharmacies, were open. Hotels were also closed, meaning most of his travels were restricted to short day trips to nearby towns or exploring Regensburg.
“I’ve really gotten to know my city and the surrounding areas. If it was a normal year, I don’t think I would have as great of knowledge of my city as I do now because I would have spent more time traveling,” he said.
Although, he admitted it was strange to adjust to a 10 p.m. curfew and he was eager for the museums and famous German beer gardens to reopen.
Even though Rowden’s courses were online, he was able to connect with other students in his intensive German language courses, many of whom lived just footsteps away in the dormitories.
For Fallahian, the conversation with her Argentine professors would often center on COVID and their country’s unique experiences with it and then move on to other aspects of Argentine history or culture.
Despite the challenges of a global pandemic, the students were able to take away life-changing lessons from their international education experience.
For Price, her time abroad showed her how to be a better international friend and host when she returned to the United States. She’s also benefited from the friendships she’s formed with classmates who had come to Angers from around the world bringing a diverse set of experiences. Through her time abroad, Price said she grew in boldness and in taking risks.
Rowden also appreciated the different perspectives he heard from his classmates about U.S. culture and history.
“You can just learn so much by listening to other people with different backgrounds,” he said.
Even without COVID, Fallahian said the virtual study abroad experience would be an effective teaching method, allowing students to gain international experience without traveling abroad.
“It definitely inspired me to take the knowledge that I learned and apply it to a real-life experience abroad — hopefully soon,” she said.