Madi Smalstig made one of the most difficult decisions in her four years of college. When the pandemic sent students home in May 2020, she didn’t know that one year later it would cancel her plans to study abroad in the spring of her junior year. As she entered her senior year, Smalstig chose to go abroad this fall.
Smalstig said, “I couldn’t leave college with that, without going abroad and getting that experience outside of the classroom.”
Smalstig explains her reasoning to go abroad during her senior year.
IU ranks fifth in the nation in the number of students who study abroad. This past semester, IU students returned to studying overseas, but the rise in the coronavirus remains a threat.
In early November, Europe again became the epicenter of pandemic. The continent reported almost 2 million coronavirus cases and a steady increase in the number of deaths from the virus according to the World Health Organization.
The CDC says to “avoid travel to these destinations” listed as a Level 4 travel advisory. Countries such as Austria, the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Czech Republic are a few of the Level 4 countries listed, but they are also popular overseas study destinations.
IU hasn’t announced canceling or postponing any upcoming overseas programs in the spring semester.
IU Chief Health Officer Aaron Caroll says, “You have to weigh the risk of where you’re going versus the risk of where you are right now. In many parts of the United States, in respect to COVID, it’s far worse than what you might see in some areas of Europe.”
Smalstig is currently studying in Madrid. Her program doesn’t allow students to travel outside the country, so they plan excursions to other cities within Spain. The program requires the students to take rapid covid tests before they go on a trip. She said no more than 30 students go on the excursions.
“I don’t feel a lot of restrictions when it comes to places I want to go out to or things I want to do. I just have to make sure I’m following specific regulations,” Smalstig said.
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For those students planning to go abroad next semester, Dr. Carroll says to mask up and follow countries covid regulations. He added that, “Air travel in general is not necessarily the problem with respect to covid. It’s sort of what you do when you get there.”
Whether studying abroad for the semester or just going on a trip, Dr. Carroll recommends thoroughly checking a destination’s covid entry requirements and regulations.
“There are many parts of the United States that were in a much worse surge in the last few months than Europe was. The idea that you would’ve been perfectly safe going to college in Florida locally, but terribly in danger if you’d taken a semester abroad in France doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Carroll said.
Studying abroad during the pandemic also creates new challenges for students.
“People are wearing masks, so I can’t read their lips, so it’s much harder to understand people,” Smalstig says.
Smalstig will return to Bloomington in January for her final semester of college. She said she’s grateful for the unique experience to study overseas and is happy with her decision to study abroad.
Next semester, the IU Office of Overseas Study says they expect over a thousand Indiana University students to study abroad. They also said, they’re planning trips for spring break and next summer if the pandemic permits.
