Study Abroad

After traveling to Italy for a week with my choir in high school, it became my dream to study abroad and live in Italy for a semester. From the moment I stepped foot onto Fordham's (my college) campus, I planned as much as I possibly could to ensure I would be able to study abroad.

After being rejected from study abroad for the spring 2020 semester of my junior year, I lost hope. I had been to countless study abroad meetings and info sessions. I had had so many meetings with the study abroad office I lost count. I thought I had done everything I possibly could to ensure I could study abroad and yet, I was rejected from the program. I was told "there was an unusually large number of applications this year and unfortunately we just cannot fit everyone."

I would be a senior the following year and studying abroad as a senior is a difficult thing to do, for a few reasons. You have to make sure you had planned all of your classes out perfectly so that everything lined up and you would be able to graduate. You have to make peace with missing a semester of your final year in college. You are sacrificing valuable time at internships that could lead to a full time job. Among countless other reasons, my odds were not looking good. Yet, I still chose to apply.

Opening the email with the decision of my application was definitely one of the most nerve wracking moments of my life. Probably more nerve wracking than college acceptance letters/emails .... because they sometimes ruined the moment by including "Congratulations" on the envelope or in the email subject line.

I was accepted. Finally, it felt like everything was falling into place. Until, suddenly the entire world was falling apart around me. Very, VERY shortly after being accepted into the study abroad program of my dreams, I was faced with an impossible decision. Is it safe for me to study abroad?

One of The Most Difficult Decisions of My Life

After much contemplation, I ultimately chose to withdraw from the study abroad program. For a few reasons.

First and foremost was my health and well - being. I have a compromised immune system and we have no idea what's going to happen next with the corona virus. In addition to that risk, I recently had knee surgery that was delayed by 2 months and I have no time frame on when I will heal. How can I travel if I can't walk? It would be too stressful and not worth the risk.

Lastly, because of everything going on I have been unemployed for the past almost 3 months and do not have anywhere near enough saved to live in another country (where I probably wouldn't be able to work) and travel.

Even though I have made this decision myself and come to terms with it, it still sucks. I worked so hard for something that was ripped away from me. Even though I made the call, it is likely that the program will be cancelled as applications for Visa's are still closed (at least as of the last time I checked).

An Abrupt Choice

Don't worry, there's more drama!

After making the decision to withdraw from the study abroad program, I now had another difficult choice to make. I have 7 courses left to take in order to graduate, which meant I could take 4 classes in the fall, then 3 in the spring or 5 and then 2, or really any configuration I wanted.

However, because of the odd number of classes left - it would likely mean I would be a part time student for a semester. This seemed like a waste of time to me.

Then it hit me. It was just 4 short days before the first session of summer courses Fordham offers started. I frantically searched the list of courses and called begging to be let into two classes - a communications course called Privacy and Surveillance (I love it already) and Introduction to Sociology (Which fascinates me).

The first session of summer courses is from May 26th (today) until June 25th. Due to the knee surgery I had, I will be immobile until June 9th and because of the pandemic, I'm unemployed - so there was really no question about it.

So that makes today the first official day of what is my unconventional senior year.

My Thoughts on Graduating Early

Now you may be wondering why I chose to graduate early, considering a semester was just ripped away from me.

I am a commuting student at Fordham University, so my college experience isn't a traditional one. I commute from home, just 15 minutes away from my campus so even after I finish with classes, I can still visit all of my friends and participate in events.

I saw an opportunity to make good use of time that I'm going to be stuck at home and a way to make a situation that seriously sucks a positive. (And to be honest I'm really bored and just desperate enough to take summer classes to have something to do) Now, I'll either be able to get a jumpstart on my career, or take that "extra" few months and travel the world on my own schedule.

So here's to the start of my senior year.

Thank you to all of my friends and family for supporting me throughout my college career!