Studying Abroad in the Middle of a Pandemic 

University of New England students get the okay from the administration to study abroad in Morocco in the midst of a pandemic. Their experiences were unique and tiresome from previous years. In the last few weeks of the semester the Moroccan border closed and they feared that they would be stuck there until further notice. 

University of New England opened a campus in Tangier, Morocco in 2014, to provide students with an opportunity to immerse themselves in new cultures while attending classes at the same time. This provided a great opportunity for students leading up to the year 2020 and most enjoyed it. 

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However, as the world is changing with coronavirus mutating, traveling now is different than it was in the past. The fall semester of 2021 students were allowed to study abroad even with an impending doom dangling over their shoulders. Their experience was filled with what ifs and hows at orientation, but were quickly diminished when arriving on campus. Most students were surprised when walking through the gates of the campus for the first time. 

“I thought wow this is a quaint campus with unique architecture. It was a style I wasn’t expecting in Africa and my first impression was filled with excitement,” Fiona Caffrey said, a fall semester study abroad student majoring in dental hygiene. 

This was a common response from most students at the time. There was a refreshing quality to feeling liberated after being quarantined for a year. Although there was excitement there was also apprehension and a hint of discouragement.  

“I wasn’t so much as nervous about the pandemic, but there were all these new rules that we had to learn about what COVID was like there. Once we heard that there was a nationwide curfew in Morocco at 9 pm we were a little disappointed. No college student goes to bed that early. I don’t think I thought about the pandemic when we first arrived. All I wanted to do was unpack and settle down after the long journey,” said Caffrey.