St. Lawrence abroad programs are running this fall amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. SLU students are spread across the world including programs in London, Denmark, France, Jordan, Kenya and Spain, as well as New York City.
Juan Pablo Velasquez ’22 is an international student from Colombia currently participating in the London semester program. He chose to go during his senior fall after the program in France got cancelled in 2020. “I really wanted to go abroad to get out of the Canton bubble,” he said. Velasquez picked London specifically because he is considering pursuing a master’s degree in the UK.
In London, there are 18 students total between the first-year program and the upperclassmen. Along with having to sign a program-specific Laurentian Pact that included travel restrictions, filling out daily symptom checks and getting COVID tests twice a week, there were other changes to the semester as a whole because of the pandemic.
In terms of the university’s COVID-19 plan for the London program, in general, Velasquez believes it is very effective. “The university made sure that students who were abroad were safe. They took care of our well-being and health a lot.”
Velasquez feels he lost key experiences while in London because of the pandemic. He was disappointed with the rule that students could not leave their program country, with London students being limited to travel only between Scotland, England and Wales. “I would have gone to France and Spain, just gone more abroad,” he said. “I also would have partied more.”
The work experience aspect of the London program would have been a smoother process as well. Normally during the final month of the semester, students get an internship at a London based office. However, this is up in the air for the fall due to the pandemic. “It would have been easier to get [the work placements] if it was a normal semester,” Velasquez said. As a senior student, this aspect of the program impacted his choice of abroad location. “I could get experience in my major,” he said.
Another challenge Velasquez faced this semester due to the COVID pandemic was entering the UK. “I had a lot of restrictions to travel because I don’t have an American passport,” he said. It took him three flights to get to the UK from his home country of Colombia. He also had to quarantine in the US before flying to the UK, which was expensive.
Velasquez has enjoyed the diversity and inclusive environment of London and meeting a variety of people in the city. “Citizens here are more approachable and don’t care about nationality,” he said, in comparison to the campus environment. “There’s a big contrast between SLU and London, people don’t really care where you come from.”
Asa Krieger ’22 is studying abroad in Kenya. He was pleasantly surprised when it was confirmed that the SLU program would run. “CIIS and the Kenya semester program office worked diligently the whole year to ensure the safety and happiness of the students within the COVID-19 context,” he said.
The program has been changed due to the pandemic, and it also had a specific pact for students to sign. Krieger and the other students get tested after every travel component and follow Kenyan and CDC restrictions. They were still able to do rural home visits but could not stay overnight, and the Tanzania travel component was changed to a different trip. The urban home stay is occurring as usual.
His favorite experience so far has been staying with his host family and visiting Kericho county, a rural tea community. “They were incredibly welcoming,” he said. “I was very lucky to be placed with the Langats and I look forward to cherishing that relationship in the future.”
Even with the changes, Krieger is very happy with his semester. “This experience has only been different than other years, not less than, and I am extremely grateful for that,” he said.