Aggies abroad brought home amid COVID-19 pandemic

By Sydney Kidd

On March 12, Abbie Sherva woke up to several emails marked “URGENT.”

The emails, from Utah State University, were ordering her home. She was told she had six days to comply.

Sherva had been in Seville, Spain, for seven weeks as part of a study abroad program with International Studies Abroad. The trip was supposed to continue through the end of spring semester. 

Utah State is one of many universities in the United States to have canceled all study abroad programs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Some universities, like Brigham Young University, have even canceled domestic programs, such as those in Washington, D.C. 

Other institutions have chosen a different path. The University of Utah, for instance, has allowed students to continue with semester exchanges to the school’s Asia campus in South Korea.

Sherva decided to book a flight for March 18 — the last day she was told she could stay in Spain. It happened to also be the day with the cheapest flights. 

But, not long after booking the flight, Sherva and her friends began to hear rumors about the Spanish government potentially shutting down airports. She said between this and seeing the country’s coronavirus case count go up by 1,000 in one day, they knew they needed to leave as soon as possible.

“Things were changing by the hour,” Sherva said. “And so we were basically just trying to get out because we didn't know how much could happen in a few hours… I was running on adrenaline basically the whole time”

The next morning, Sherva got on a bus to Portugal with the intent to fly out of Lisbon. As she looked at Seville one last time, she saw a shell of the city’s former self.

“Almost everything was closed besides supermarkets and pharmacies,” Sherva said. “There were a few cafes open. The entrances to the parks were all closed and everything.”

By Sunday night Sherva was back in her hometown of Fargo, North Dakota. She said while she was initially disappointed when she was told she had to leave Spain, she’s grateful she got out when she did, even if it meant rebooking a sooner flight.

“I'm so thankful that I didn't stay because I had a friend who had a flight early Monday morning out of Madrid and his was canceled,” Sherva said. “And he had to do the same thing and flee to Portugal and kind of take the same route that we did.”

Emilie Wheeler, a Utah State public relations official, said all students in “level 3” countries — China, South Korea, Iran and Italy — have now returned home. Utah State students in other countries are being brought home “as quickly as possible.”

Natalie and Connor Toone were originally supposed to go to the Philippines in January with a program facilitated by Utah State’s business school. After the Taal Volcano erupted in January, and amid concerns about coronavirus, they were reassigned to the Dominican Republic. A month into their trip there, were told the program had been canceled and given eight days to get back to the United States.

Connor said that initially he was “pretty bummed.” As the situation with the coronavirus escalated, however, he and his wife grew more nervous.

“We were getting all the notifications from KSL and other news sources just saying, ‘Oh, now schools are closed. Now churches are closed. Now everything's closed.’ and we were thinking, ‘oh, maybe this is bigger than what we thought,” Natalie Toone said.

Andrea Bresee had been on a student teaching exchange in Chiapas, Mexico, for just two weeks when she was told to get home. She said the news came as a complete shock.

“We were kind of living in a little bubble where no one was concerned about it and so it wasn't really affecting us,” Bresee said. “When I got the email saying that the program was cancelled, I started crying immediately. Like I just burst into tears because I was so upset.”

All four Aggies agreed the panic in the United States over COVID-19 is far greater than what they experienced abroad — even in Spain where the situation is more serious.

“People were freaking out so much less than they're freaking out here,” Sherva said. “Our parents were way more freaked out than we were because people in Spain were so chill about it… but the government there was taking it very seriously.”

Bresee and the Toones all said that while they were initially shocked and disappointed, they understand and respect the university’s reasoning behind canceling their programs.

“It makes sense. You don't know if borders are going to start closing,” Natalie Toone said. “I don't think they were so much afraid that we would get the virus. They were just worried about making sure we could all get home.”

Bresee said she feels relieved to be home. 

Last minute travel and study abroad trips can be expensive. The students were unsure of what they would be refunded and reimbursed for. 

“We’re working with students and programs to discuss how students might continue their academic progress, as well as what costs may be recoverable from the programs,” Wheeler said.

According to Wheeler, the university will know more specifics in the coming weeks.

But once students have returned from their travels, they aren’t out of the woods — especially for those coming from Europe. According to Wheeler, students are being tracked by the university upon returning home. In fact, Utah State sent out an email on Sunday to students who had traveled to the UK and France over spring break asking them to self-quarantine. When the students first arrived home, they weren’t required to do so. But as travel advisories have changed, the government has updated its guidelines.

Sherva tested negative for coronavirus in an airport screening, but is also having to self-quarantine for 14 days to be safe. While self-quarantining can be a tedious and difficult process, Sherva believes it’s worth it.

“Everyone thinks like, like 'I don't have it there's no way I've gotten it,’” Sherva said. “But in reality, some of us are wrong. Some of us have it.”

Visit cdc.gov for more information on COVID-19.