Editor’s note: This is part of a contributed collection of students and faculty experience with COVID-19. 

Students packed their bags and left behind a semester of study abroad experience after the spread of COVID-19. 

Iowa State University students who studied in Italy returned to the United States due to the level three travel warning issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Simisola Toluwalase, who was a senior in apparel, merchandising and design, was a student who studied in Florence, Italy, in the spring semester.  

Toluwalase said she always wanted to study abroad but had her qualms about the expenses. In her last year of school, she said wanted to challenge herself, push out of her comfort zone and test her independence. 

Italy was on her bucket list since she was young, and she said she was motivated by a friend who studied in Florence and had a great experience. 

“Being able to wake up every day in Italy was like living a dream,” Toluwalase said. “I seriously felt like Lizzie in ‘The Lizzie McGuire Movie.’ Being surrounded by so much history and getting to immerse myself in a culture that is so different than mine is a gift I will cherish forever.” 

Toluwalase first learned about COVID-19 in early January before she left for Italy. She said she was concerned about China and especially Wuhan, but thought it was unlikely to affect her directly. 

Toluwalase said she was devastated after she was informed to come back to the United States. 

“The girls I met abroad and I were going out since it was a Friday night. We then got the emails we had to go home and all bawled our eyes out,” Toluwalase said. “I felt like I was just settling into this amazing new reality and it was taken from me before I could fully enjoy it.” 

Since Toluwalase returned home to the United States she said being thankful for what matters most — her family and health — have helped her cope during this time.

Toluwalase said one should count their blessings and be thankful for good health even when things get taken away. 

“To give up the simplest pleasures at this time can be so hard but for the safety of your neighbors, family and people you don’t even know, I think is truly the purest act of love,” Toluwalase said.