Finding joy abroad in the midst of an unknown future

Finding joy abroad in the midst of an unknown future

Brittany Lang / Feature Editor / The USD Vista

USD students across the globe are finding ways to stay sane and remain hopeful despite being at the center of a global pandemic. As many countries have been moving out of a complete lockdown and are reopening to foreign travelers, international students and those who spent time abroad since March have found new activities to fill their days, all the while remaining health conscious and taking necessary precautions.

On March 12 came the announcement from President James T. Harris III, D.Ed that the university would be moving to “remote living and learning” for the remainder of the semester. 

However, as conditions surrounding COVID-19 began to escalate, a 24-hour relocation notice was made on March 17 for students residing on campus. In turn, students studying abroad in universities across the world were encouraged to return to the United States or their home country as soon as possible for obvious health and safety reasons, as well as due to the termination of their programs by their abroad institutions. 

Each and every person has had to face a great deal of stress and uncertainty about what the future holds since the outbreak of the virus, and many are left with unanswered questions and the realization that life as we know it will never be quite the same. International and study abroad students have had to face much disappointment and come to accept the fact that their 2020 was not going to turn out even close to how they had envisioned. Despite this, USD students around the world have been taking these challenges in stride and learning to adjust to the new normal. 

Whether it was returning home or riding out the pandemic in a foreign country, one thing is certain: COVID-19 has been a period of immense learning and personal growth for international and study abroad students. 

International student and rising senior Ross Meldrum had to go through the sudden and unexpected motions of repacking his belongings to return to his home country of England in early March, after the 24-hour relocation notice from the university. However, on July 6, Meldrum was hit with the news that he might not be able to return to campus in the fall following the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy shift, that was going to strip international college students of their U.S. visas if their coursework was entirely online. This motion has since been overturned. 

“I think it’s important in situations like this that we accept that we cannot necessarily control what is going to happen, so there is little use spending too much time stressing over it,” Meldrum said, who has been living with his family in Essex. 

He explained that small gatherings are now allowed in England, and some non-essential shops have reopened as well as many bars and restaurants. These changes made by the British government unsurprisingly gave way for crowds of Brits to flock to their favorite pubs to share drinks with friends after months of isolation.

Meldrum said as an international student, usually when he returns home to England, he is constantly rushing around to see all of his friends and family in a relatively short space of time. However, being in lockdown has granted him the opportunity to slow down and spend quality time with his family, as well as read, cook, and explore the beautiful English countryside. 

When it comes to practicing social distancing with his close friends, Meldrum said he’s been cautious about where they choose to socialize due to the large crowds that have been accumulating at establishments with outdoor sitting areas. 

“We haven’t rushed to take advantage of places that have reopened, like the pubs,” Meldrum said. “Instead we have felt it safer just to spend time outside in the parks or in our gardens, where the risk is much lower.” 

One thing Meldrum has been reminding himself is that all there is to do is to try your best to plan for each eventuality and simply deal with obstacles when they arrive. 

Beginning around mid-May, France began to lift some of the restrictions put in place to hinder the spread of COVID-19. The French government slowly granted the French people freedom of movement, and after a few weeks began to open museums, attractions, parks, and restaurants across the country. 

Rising senior Olivia Hunt, who was studying abroad in Paris, France this past spring, decided to remain in her student housing after a very strict lockdown was put in place — an action that was essential as it is evident that COVID-19 does not favor the French way of life. 

Hunt not only experienced quarantine à la française, but was there to witness how Paris made the switch from a city where life completely came to a halt for over two months to one where life made a return to normalcy once again after she stayed on to spend all of June and some of July in Paris. 

Hunt said political leaders have handled the situation well in France. 

“Macron isn’t that well liked in France, but he certainly did a respectable job controlling the virus,” Hunt said. 

Hunt eventually got the opportunity to eat at her favorite cafés again, visit some of her most loved museums, and browse the stores for more chic Parisian fashions. However, it was mandatory that masks were always to be worn both indoors and outdoors, that stores and museums only allow a limited number of people in at a time, that restaurants and bars never reached maximum capacity, and that every establishment and form of transportation must always have hand sanitizer readily available. 

During her time in Paris, Hunt did harbor serious concerns about being a U.S. citizen living abroad during a global pandemic.

“My parents worried that since I’m a foreigner, if it came down to putting me on a ventilator versus an EU citizen, I would not be chosen,” Hunt said. Thankfully, this was a grave issue she never had to face.

Rising senior Lauren Malestic had to cancel her summer plans to travel to Paris to spend time with loved ones as France has not yet opened their borders to international travelers. However, she was able to escape the madness in the United States to travel to Dubrovnik, Croatia this past month with her mother to stay with some close family members. 

Malestic explained how Croatia is dealing with foreign travelers at the moment.

“In order to enter the country, travelers must provide a variety of government approved documents on a tourist status, as well as a negative COVID-19 PCR test no older than 48 hours,” she said. 

The amount of known cases in Croatia in relation to other European countries and the United States is fairly low, and comparing her experience in Dubrovnik with her time spent in San Diego, she said that life feels much more normal despite the extremely low number of tourists and rather empty streets. 

Malestic added that “all beaches and attractions are open, just much less crowded and therefore it is very easy to social distance.”

Similar to how many people have felt during this trying time, Malestic opened up about how difficult these past few months have been on her mental health, specifically with surrendering control over her life. However, she emphasized how fortunate she has felt by being surrounded by her family, and how it has given her the chance to spend quality time to grow even closer to them which she would otherwise not have had. 

“I spend so much time with my family, and it has been such a gift,” Malestic said. “We use our pool so much now and it feels as though it has really united us all.”

She’s found a variety of ways to fill the hours she spends at home. 

“I wrote poetry, learned new things about art and film, discovered new movies and music, and read some great literature,” Malestic said. ”These all made me feel that this lockdown was almost a gift to give me extra time to disconnect and access these creative outlets.” 

“I pray a lot and spend a lot of time reflecting on not only what kind of person I want to be emerging from this pandemic, but on what I already have and what I am thankful for,” Malestic added. 

Since she landed in Croatia, she’s spent most of days with her mother swimming in the Adriatic Sea and strolling the quiet streets of Dubrovnik, all the while sporting a stylish mask.

A sentiment that each student echoed was that in order to find joy in such an unprecedented time as this one, it is crucial to try your best to adapt to your new environment and find normalcy within the abnormal. No matter where you are in the world, focusing on being grateful for the small pleasures in life is something that could drastically help one’s personal growth and happiness while learning to live with COVID-19.