The Repatriation - Jack Smith

At 2 o’clock in the morning on Wednesday, March 11th, I received multiple phone calls from my parents. I finally woke up and answered the phone around 2:30AM to a barrage of frantic voices. My parents had just seen a report of Donald trumps euro-travel ban and demanded that I come home immediately. The initial report did not state that the travel ban did not apply to US citizens. In fear that the boarders would close at 12:00am on Friday morning, I agreed to purchase a plane ticket home as soon as I woke up. Around 7Am, I heard sad, confused, and angry voices coming from the hallway. I picked up my phone and read through the many emails I had received concerning the travel ban and found out that the travel ban did not apply to US citizens and that Furman was giving the students on the Brussels program a week to return home. However, my parents did not care as they know how fast things can change during times like these. I hopped on a plane at 11:55am and was sitting in my living room by 8 pm on Thursday, March 12th.

Coming home as a 21-year-old college student is always hard. Coming home as a college student who was interning for 10 credit hours of his 16 required hours is even harder. Transitioning home has been more difficult than usual because I am only in class for about 4 hours each week. I spend on average about 6 hours a week completing the readings and other assignments for my classes. Thus, I spend a maximum of a day and a half in school which may sound amazing; but it isn’t. I am bored and fighting myself to ward off laziness. I have been searching for a job to fill the time until my internship starts in May. However, with covid-19 virtually shutting the US’s economy down, not many people are looking to hire at all let alone hire someone for only a few months. Moving forward, I will keep up with class, keep searching for a side job, and do my best to keep my spirits high.

In conclusion, Covid-19 has drastically changed my life. The virus pulled me home from an amazing experience that I’ll never have again, it has moved all my classes onto a difficult platform to excel in, and it has kept me away from my friends and family. However, it has not broken my spirit nor the spirits of those around me. When this chapter ends, restaurants will be packed, downtowns will be full, and businesses will flourish once again.