“Coronavirus did not feel like a serious issue at all,” Isabelle Muller ’21 said. “Until it did.”
Muller is an art history major particularly interested in the Renaissance. Florence, Italy, the birthplace of this intellectual and artistic movement, seemed like the perfect study abroad location. But just over a month into her program, she had to pack up and leave the northern Italian city amidst sudden and growing reports of COVID-19.
Students currently studying abroad have faced uncertainty about their academic plans as coronavirus outbreaks have grown globally. In January, Mount Holyoke students planning to study with the school’s Shanghai program unanimously elected not to go because of the presence of the virus in mainland China. Since then, the epidemic has become a pandemic spanning multiple continents.
Mount Holyoke is requiring that anyone studying in a country designated with a Level 3 warning by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) return to the United States. This currently includes China, Italy, Iran and South Korea.
“This is a dynamic and difficult situation,” Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students Marcella Runell Hall and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty Jon Western told the Mount Holyoke News in a joint statement. “We know that study abroad experiences are incredibly enriching and rewarding and we are very sorry that some of our students are impacted by the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus.”
Hall did not feel comfortable sharing the exact number of Mount Holyoke students who have been affected by the outbreak. Typically 100 to 200 students study abroad in the spring semester, and Hall said that only about 10 percent of these students were in current Level 3 countries.
Throughout February, Muller had been receiving emails from her Syracuse University-led program about isolated cases of COVID-19 in the region. It seemed precautionary and not a major threat. But on Feb. 25, Muller attended her afternoon art history class about medieval art during the black plague. When her professor predicted that the program would be suspended, the effects of the virus felt more real. Later that evening, her program announced that it would require its students to return home by March 1.
“Everything changed completely in the span of 24 hours,” Muller said.
Muller remembered that the city itself still felt calm. Although stores had sold out of face masks and hand sanitizer, tourists still populated the usual spots and restaurants were crowded.
Italy’s Lombardy region has been most affected by the outbreak, with over 1,820 confirmed cases according to Italian newspaper The Local. Tuscany, where Florence is the capital, has reported 13 cases.
Clare Heywood ’21 chose to study in Seoul, South Korea for the academic year to improve her Korean language skills and support her major in East Asian studies. She participated in a direct enrollment program with Yonsei University.
“I would describe the last six months as the best months of my life,” she said. “Seoul became my home quite quickly and easily. Ultimately, I am devastated I had to leave early.”
Heywood said that when the virus arrived in South Korea, she was not particularly concerned for her own well-being. The outbreak was concentrated in the city of Daegu, about 150 miles from Seoul, and largely stemmed from Shincheonji, Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the testimony, according to The New York Times. Additionally, infants and elderly people are the demographics most at risk of serious cases of COVID-19.
“Although I continued to take all necessary precautions for my own safety, I was once again more worried for the people in the country being affected by this than for myself,” Heywood said.
South Korea was designated a Level 3 country by the United States CDC on Feb. 24. Heywood said that she received an email which informed her the College would no longer accept study abroad options in South Korea and that she should leave the country as soon as possible.
Heywood was told to speak to an academic dean to resolve lost credits.
“I expected [Mount Holyoke] to have an established protocol for these scenarios,” Heywood said. “I expected the administration to be more proactive about providing academic solutions for me right off the bat and about informing us to leave the country within a proper time frame.”
Heywood scrambled to schedule a flight. Mount Holyoke provided a way for her tuition to be refunded from Yonsei University, but housing and flight costs were Heywood’s responsibility.
While Heywood understands the rapidly changing nature of the outbreak and doesn’t blame a particular person or department at Mount Holyoke, she is upset by how her situation has been handled.
“I am frustrated, disappointed and distressed by the whole situation,” she said. “I do believe the academic dean will be helpful to me in the following few weeks and I have faith the Study Abroad Office will as well.”
Heywood said that, if she could make the choice herself, she would have stayed in South Korea. While the country has more cases than the U.S., she wondered if the U.S. is well-equipped to deal with an outbreak.
The U.S. recently expanded the access of COVID-19 testing, lifting all restrictions to getting tested. Previously, only patients showing symptoms could have their samples sent to health labs according to The Boston Globe. The virus can spread even in mild cases. The New York Times reported that public health laboratories have the capacity to handle 15,000 tests a day.
Meanwhile in South Korea, testing is more widely available. There are even drive-through facilities where health workers in hazmat suits check for symptoms and take samples from at-risk people, The Korea Herald reported.
“Nonetheless, I am thankful to be safe and at home,” Heywood said. “I will be self-quarantining for the next two weeks as well as continuing to take all other necessary precautions to ensure the safety of others surrounding me.”
Students in non-designated countries have also been receiving communication from the College as the virus spreads.
Maggie Micklo ’21 is currently studying abroad in Montpellier, France through a Mount Holyoke program.
“Once we heard about the outbreak in Italy, I began to hear rumors about programs being canceled. At that point, I was worried that even a single case in my city could lead to my program being canceled,” Micklo said. However, Mount Holyoke’s message reassured her that only programs in Level 3 countries would be suspended. She also received general safety precautions to stay healthy, including avoiding travel to countries identified as risks by the CDC.
There are currently over 200 cases in France and no travel health notice has been issued by the CDC. As precautionary measures, France banned gatherings of more than 5,000 people and museums like the Louvre in Paris, have closed.
Micklo attended mass in Montpellier on Sunday. “The priest urged everyone to nod heads instead of shaking hands during the [sign of] peace, the part of the mass where people generally walk around and greet each other.”
Micklo hopes that she’ll be able to finish her semester in France. “I’ve been loving my time here and it would be so hard to leave, especially as the outbreak spreads in the U.S. Am I really in more danger here than I would be anywhere else in the world?” she asked. “I also know that the situation can change drastically within days.”
The uncertainty of the virus means students preparing study abroad plans for the next year are also thinking about how the outbreak could affect them. Hall and Western encouraged students to reach out to the McCulloch Center for individual advice.
Muller, the student who had to leave Florence, will finish most of her classes online at her home in Connecticut. Syracuse University is planning to host an on-campus two to three-week intensive program that Muller will attend to complete art studio classes she was taking in Florence. She said Mount Holyoke has been understanding both financially and academically as her study abroad plans were disrupted.
“I feel saddest when I think of all the amazing things Florence had to offer that I thought I had more time to do,” Muller said. “But ultimately, it was the people I met there that made it the amazing experience that it was.”