This past spring semester of my junior year, I embarked on a study abroad program in Turin, Italy which had been a long time dream of mine. My successful cousin who is currently receiving her PhD. in medicine once said her biggest regret in college was not taking the time to study abroad. When I first arrived at the University of Maine and began planning my next four years of classes and extracurriculars, I chose my classes wisely so I would be able to take a lighter schedule in order to study abroad this particular semester. The reason I chose Italy is due to the fact that my mother’s side descended from the country and it has always been a personal goal of mine to learn a new language. Choosing Italy, I had my choice of cities so I decided that the city of Turin because of the proximity to the Northern area of Italy making it easier to travel. I prioritized traveling because I feel as though if I was going to spend time studying in another country, it was equally as important to familiarize myself with my surroundings both intra and intercountry.
In regard to where I was born and raised, I come from a small farmland town in central Massachusetts and upon my graduation, I decided to live in another small town for college – this town being Orono, Maine. Prior to Turin, I had never lived in a city before so both navigating a city and residing in one were entirely new to me. If I’m being honest, before the trip, I was nervous but my excitement was covering that all up as I was caught in the fact that this was all creating a huge change in my life while simultaneously improving it. I was ready to be challenged by going into this program alone, learning a completely new language, and just immersing myself in the culture.
As soon as I got there, I found myself fitting in immediately which was not what I had expected. I loved learning new aspects of the Italian culture and exploring the beautiful city of Turin alongside my roommates and new classmates. Being so close to other countries, my roommates and I began booking our weekend trips to other destinations almost every day. Overall, I had never felt so at ease in my life and I am grateful that Turin offered me the time to explore and take a breath.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Once COVID-19 (known more commonly as Coronavirus) came into Milan, Italy in late February. At first, none of us were worried because, like many other students studying abroad, we figured it would be contained. However, that was not the outcome. In the last week of February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (known as the CDC) declared it a Level 2 alert which meant to take precautionary measures because there were now multiple cases reported in the Lombardy region (Milan, where most of our cheap flights were) and even a few in the Piedmont region (Turin, where I lived and studied).
At this point in my study abroad program, this is when everything went downhill. Our conversations were no longer about what places we dreamed of going, our conversations were more focused on current events and finding out more devastating information on the Coronavirus. Our grand study abroad dream had turned into a nightmare. I spent every day convincing my parents to think rationally and let me stay in Italy for as long as possible as their biggest worries and fears had turned into a reality.
Sadly, on February 29, 2020, the CDC declared the Coronavirus a Level 3 warning which meant to avoid all non-essential travel and our program was canceled following that announcement. Understandably, this news was devastating to me along with the many others around me who were in the same boat. We had only completed two out of the five months we were supposed to spend in Europe and it felt like my abroad journey had only just begun. Some of us had been waiting for this time in our collegiate careers since high school or earlier on. My time in Europe came to an abrupt stop and I found myself booked on a flight home two days later.
Along with many others, myself included, everyone glazes over the chances of pandemics and natural disasters taking place because they are so rare and uncommon – it really is something that happens once in a blue moon. Truthfully, the worst part of all of this for me was the “what if?” thought in the back of my head. Even during my short time abroad, I managed to visit a number of various countries and build long-standing and close friendships but I will always wonder what would have happened if I had been able to experience the entirety of my study abroad experience. I wonder how much I could have grown as a person in the time that I know I will never get back. I planned to use my study abroad time to focus on self-growth, explore the world, and make everlasting friendships and with this pandemic that none of us saw coming, in a matter of days, that all got ripped away from me.
Although I am disappointed in this sad outcome, I enjoyed the two months I was able to explore Europe and the many people I met along the way. I made some great friends and memories and I wouldn’t change it for anything – even when it was cut short.