By Lauren Runkle, Contributing Writer
As I mentioned in my article from last week, this semester has been crazy on many levels, and studying abroad is certainly one of them for Susquehanna upperclassmen. While many have deferred to the spring semester, this still proves to be a challenge, as proven through my own first-choice program: Regent’s University.
I had wanted to go in the fall, so a change in the semester was already disappointing enough, but when I discovered the change with the funds, I knew that I would have to defer once again to my back-up, or even hope for a change of heart in the fall.
Regent’s University decided to make all of the students’ deposits non-refundable, meaning that acceptance to the program would include thousands of dollars that may not be returned to the student if they could not attend the university in the spring for whatever reason.
Because of COVID-19 and unknown travel allowances, the Global Opportunities (GO) program reached out to us students to advise against continuing with this program in the spring. This is the only program that has worked with Susquehanna for an extended period of time and decided to be rigid in pricing.
Although this changes things for people originally intending to go to Regent’s in the spring, those who had to defer already are faced with the decision to choose their back-up, to go a different semester or even to switch to a GO short, which adds onto the previous stress of the trip being pushed back.
The GO program has handled this situation really well, allowing students to decide what is best for them and opening up channels of communication. I can only hope that everyone gets the chance to go abroad, even if it is not exactly what they pictured.
