Mourning Study Abroad, Together

Five months ago, I spent arguably too much of my free time daydreaming about my upcoming fall semester in Barcelona. As the weeks passed, I sat back and watched as that dream became a question and then a slight possibility until it disappeared completely. For the current juniors and those who were abroad last spring, what was supposed to be a life-changing semester came to a heartbreaking end before it even began. 

Missing the City of Love? Us too. For now, here’s a pretty picture of it. Photo by Ali Scheinfeld

Obviously, nothing this year has gone as expected. We’ve all had hardships, and we’ve all had to readjust plans. We’ve all lost experiences that may have changed the courses of our lives, to the point where it feels overwhelming to process everything. So, for right now, let’s just mourn this one loss: study abroad.

For many of us, the variety of study abroad opportunities were one of the most appealing parts of Elon. We’ve heard upperclassmen rave about their experiences and tell stories about how much they grew as individuals during their time abroad. The potential for that level of personal growth and leaving the Elon bubble to see new parts of the world has always been so exciting. Instead, we’ve had to deal with arranging panicked, last-minute housing to stay at a version of Elon that doesn’t even quite feel like Elon (Don’t get us wrong, we’re still happy to be here). 

This pandemic is bigger than all of us, and there are many people out there struggling to manage much bigger problems, but that doesn’t mean it’s not okay to mourn the loss of this experience. Make sure to check in on yourself and give yourself time to process it. So many of us are in the same position and there’s no shortage of understanding or support. 

Have you ever wanted to visit a train station so bad? (St Pancras International). Photo by Ali Scheinfeld

As far as moving on from this loss goes, be patient with yourself. Focus on friends, on being back at Elon, on the memories we can make this semester on campus that never would have existed if abroad went as planned. Because we can’t go out to as many places or do as many things as we could in a pandemic-less world, this semester will be dedicated to movie nights in sweatpants with our best friends and creating moments of connection that will last forever, even if they aren’t the moments we intended for.

And, when it gets hard, you can be assured that there WILL be other opportunities to travel, to see the world, and to grow. Look into interning abroad or doing volunteer work if you need a jumping off point.

Losing this experience was and will continue to be hard, but it’s possible to be optimistic with what we have and leave the door open for the world to surprise us with something better in the future.