Some Study-Abroad Students Resist Calls to Come Home, Frustrating Parents and Colleges

Some Study-Abroad Students Resist Calls to Come Home, Frustrating Parents and Colleges

While many people in the United States are constantly concerned about the spread of COVID-19, there are parents who worry not only about COVID-19 but also their children who are in a whole different country. Students like Greta Huber who chose to remain in Germany even though her parents and college advised her to return home. Huber knew since middle school that she wanted to study abroad in Germany. When she got to college and was accepted to a semester-long program in a German town with a castle she was excited and book her flight eight months in advance. But when her university advised her to come home in March she refused because it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that takes over a year of planning. Her parents who live in Maryland wanted her to come back home since they would not be able to help her if anything happens. But Greta Huber was not the only college student who decided to remain on study-abroad programs during the pandemic, dozens of students have taken this path leaving both parents and college administrators frustrated. Colleges and parents worried about the quality of foreign health care systems and the ability of students to navigate them. Also the fear that travel restrictions could indefinitely strand students to which students like Mimi Retiz is fine with being stuck in France for a long time. The students have taken the responsibility for their decision and both the parents and college administrators have accepted their choices.

During this time it can be very stressful for parents to protect their children and it is especially difficult when they are in a different country. There are multiple arguments for why students should come back home and why it is safer for them to stay in their study-abroad program. Huber along with other students argue that they feel safer in the country they are currently staying at then being at the United States. Another point they make is that everything is more calmer and people are not overreacting. Huber informed her parents that everything is more calmer in Germany that she is able to go hiking and do many other things. She also stated that people are not fighting for toilet paper compared to the United States. Parents have ensured that their child acknowledges that they will have to pay their own ticket back home since many colleges offered to pay their ticket back home.

This article is interesting to read because many people would think that everybody would want to come back to their home especially during this pandemic. U.S citizens who are in their study-abroad program are not the only ones who chose to stay, their are also students from other country who are doing their study-abroad program in the United States. In the end, it is up to the student to make the final choice and take the consequences that come along with their decision which my become a good or bad experience for them.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-study-abroad-students-resist-calls-to-come-home-frustrating-parents-and-colleges-11588507202?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=16