Anna Fleischman loves traveling. The junior journalism major has visited England, Germany and Japan, and she was excited to visit Ghana this summer for an internship program. That was before the World Health Organization called the rapidly-spreading coronavirus a pandemic on March 11.

On March 12, UO President Michael Schill announced via email that all non-essential domestic and international university travel would be suspended indefinitely, cancelling spring term study abroad programs and putting Fleischman’s internship — and the plans of several other students — on hold. 

This disruption has forced some students to rethink their academic plans.

Postponing an internship

COVID-19 altered Fleischman’s plans for the spring. She expected to enroll in 16 credits this term instead of 12, having planned on taking a preparatory course for her summer internship abroad in Ghana.

The Media in Ghana program assigns participants to five-week internships at one of the country’s media outlets in the capital of Accra, according to the program’s website.

Fleischman, also an international studies major, said she was looking forward to the professional experience. 

“I was really excited to be able to work in a newspaper,” Fleischman said. “It definitely threw a wrench into some things.”

The COVID-19 pandemic put that experience on hold. Fleischman said she saved up money for the program and was a little upset.  However, she said she has the opportunity to go next summer as a senior. 

According to a March 31 message, the GEO said it would make 2020 summer and fall study abroad program deposits fully refundable, and provide direct updates to students with open applications for those programs. 

Uncertain plans

Jimmy Fortuna-Peak, an advertising major and another Media in Ghana program hopeful said his future was a little more uncertain. Peak said he received an email from the Media in Ghana program coordinator on March 19, informing him the summer program had been put on hold.

“It’s very disappointing,” said Fortuna-Peak. “It was something I was really looking forward to.” The sophomore said he planned to do the Ghana program this summer and spend the next summer between his junior and senior years interning at an American ad agency. Peak said he now has to decide whether to push back his initial academic plan or cut Ghana out of the equation. 

“It may be now Ghana is something I have to give up, which I’m not happy about,” Fortuna-Peak said.

Heading back home

The coronavirus also disrupted the academic plans of junior psychology major Meghan Thornburg, who had been studying abroad in Prague since the fall. 

“It definitely just messed up my entire year,” she said. 

Thornburg had been participating in the Charles University Exchange program, which she said she applied for months in advance during her sophomore year. She was in the middle of her second semester abroad when she began to hear reports of Italy’s worsening coronavirus outbreak. Soon, restaurants started shutting down and her classes moved online.

She decided to leave Prague before UO emailed her to come back, fearing reports about countries closing borders and that she would not be able to leave the Czech Republic. Packing was stressful, and she said she ended up leaving some of her belongings behind. 

“I was just not prepared to leave the country. I was expecting to spend four more months [there].”

The CDC has advised institutes of higher education to consider asking students to return to the U.S., according to the CDC website. 
Thornburg, however, said she has now embraced her current situation. She has enrolled in UO courses for spring term and is working on her online classes from home in Portland. “I’m safe and healthy, and that’s the most important thing.”

See the Emerald’s related coverage on how COVID-19 is impacting study abroad:

• March 13: UO cancels all spring quarter study abroad programs

• March 9: Coronavirus cases lead to cancelations of some study abroad programs

• Feb. 3: Despite no Oregon cases, campus community feels coronavirus’s impact