In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, NCC study abroad students return home for the semester as a safety precaution. Upon arrival to the U.S., students must self-quarantine for two weeks to prevent the possible spread of the virus. Study abroad courses will now be taken online or even canceled.
NCC students abroad received an email highly recommending them to come home because of increased confirmed cases of COVID-19. However, students were given the choice to stay or return home.
Italy
“If we decided not to come home, we had to send a formal statement to NCC saying we will be assuming those risks,” said Warner Hellyer, ’21, who recently came home from Italy.
Warner chose to return home because at this point she was not doing what she was set there to do. She intended on studying at an international university and traveling for fun.
“The experience was already tainted by this, now pandemic, and I knew the best way to figure out the details of my education was to be at home,” said Hellyer.
The Italian university Hellyer attended, Cattolica, transitioned their coursework online like most other schools and NCC. However, some classes are canceled altogether due to low enrollment.
“I have been working with a team of five to six people across both universities and could not be more thankful for them and their grace, compassion and hard work in making sure I can complete this semester,” said Hellyer.
There were only four NCC students in Italy this semester.
Scotland
Only three students were studying abroad in Scotland with the College Scholars Honors Program.
“I chose to come home because while I am studying in the UK, which wasn’t part of the travel ban, I didn’t want to risk being here if that ever changed,” said Emily Trumann, ’21.
The College did offer to reimburse students for fees that result from changing flights to come home before March 20.
“While I am upset that I don’t get to finish out my study abroad experience, I understand why the college made this decision and I can’t really fault them for that,” said Trumann.
There are only two weeks left of classes at Scotland university. After that, they have a month-long break. Now, classes are online because there have been three confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the school.
“I couldn’t finish my final stained glass piece, but I had all the glass cut, so they let us take our pieces back to make them at home,” said Trumann.
Trumann will have three weeks of online exams in late April and early May.
