6/7/2023 0 Comments Fsu study center london“Even though we began to expect summer in London would be canceled, it was a gut punch when I heard the news,” said Mark Zeigler, professor at Florida State University in Tallahassee. “It was also really hard to see all of my friends in the States posting stupid spring break photos with captions like ‘we're so bad at social distancing’ and ‘thanks for the extended spring break Corona!’ when my entire life was falling apart,” she said.īlascovich had to quarantine in a hotel room for two weeks upon her return to the United States.Īlthough the spring semester at all of FSU’s international campuses came to a screeching halt as the coronavirus ran rampant around the globe, the cancellation of summer study abroad programs didn’t happen until Mar. On top of the stress of evacuating a country, Blascovich described how she was disheartened by the way young people in the United States seemed to be living in a state of denial. “In the end, I had about three days to pack up my entire life and leave,” said Blascovich. was initially excluded from President Trump’s ban on European travel, so once the London study center was officially closed, Blascovich and her fellow students were able to find flights home. “I refused to even buy a plane ticket home until got canceled, because in my head the fact that it hadn't been canceled yet meant that things couldn't be that bad,” said Blascovich. 11, but as long as the study center remained open, Blascovich wasn’t in a hurry to leave. “For a while, no one knew if we would wake up the next day and be told we had to leave,” she said.įlorida State moved classes online and gave students the option to go home on Mar. “I'd kind of been in denial up until that point because the thought of having to go home wasn't one I wanted to process,” she said.Įarly March was an unpredictable time around the world, and Blascovich described how most people at the London campus had no idea what was happening, or what they should do about it. was able to watch what was happening in Italy and Spain, giving the faculty and students at FSU-London a clearer idea of what was heading in their direction and more time to respond.Ībigail Blascovich, a participant in the First Year Abroad program at the London campus, said she didn’t realize the severity of the coronavirus until a concert she had tickets for was canceled. is very near the rest of the European continent, the onset of the virus in England was delayed as they followed in the footsteps of their contiguous counterparts. Here’s a look at the experiences of those at FSU’s London campus in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how students and faculty alike have adapted to the new and unusual circumstances.Īlthough the U.K. Suddenly, the countless activities students and locals had once enjoyed became dangerous, and many students were left grappling with the uncertainty of what would happen next. When the coronavirus began to make its way through the UK in March, however, the crowded atmosphere of London made the spread of the virus difficult to contain. Within walking distance from the West End, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, the National Gallery and the British Museum, students who choose to spend their time abroad in London have no shortage of things to do or sights to see. In the heart of London’s historic Bloomsbury district, Florida State University’s London campus is immersed in the hustle and bustle of the city.
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