It has been a rollercoaster for International Education professionals across the globe in the last few months. The important work we are doing continues, but how we are doing it has definitely shifted! Working closely with GEO staff in Eugene, our UK and Spain site directors and instructional staff moved swiftly last month to shift all GEO spring semester courses online to ensure academic continuity for our students. Now that our GEO partner students are home safe, we wanted to share some news from our Center staff in London, Oviedo and Segovia.
Mary Hiles gets a visit from one of her cats, Simon, in her home office in London
The first adjustment has been getting used to the new realities of working and attending class from home. Mary Hiles, who has been Acting Director at the GEO London Center this semester while Amanda Milburn is on maternity leave, notes, “We’re working from home, which is kinda strange! We’re also finishing our semester programme online, which is a new venture for us but seems to be working really well! And we’re also working hard on new and innovative ideas to make sure our future students can still take part in the ‘London experience’ wherever they may be.”
London staff during a recent Zoom meeting
Though our UK and Spain centers converted their entire curriculum to an online platform, Silvia Perez, Director atthe GEO Oviedo Center, finds that some things haven’t changed very much at all: “We like to have a direct and open channel of communication with our students, and in this situation it’s no different.” Kalyn Franke, who has been serving as Acting Assistant Director at the GEO London Center, added, “We are keeping in touch with each other with frequent Zooms, emails and silly photos over WhatsApp…staying positive and staying home!”Many of our staff were eager to share thoughts with students who want to study abroad later this year or at some date in the future. Iain Espey, Programmes Assistant at the GEO London Center, commented, “People always go on about how the world is more interconnected than ever. It’s something almost everyone thinks about when they study abroad, no matter where you decide to go. The last few months have demonstrated the importance of a nuanced, flexible view of this crazy system we call ‘the world’ and the position in it each of us occupies. To me, there’s nothing that could prepare you better for that kind of thinking than studying abroad.” Marian Rubio, Director at the GEO Segovia Center, saw this as a teaching moment as well: “This is a difficult situation right now, but we will get through it, and be stronger for it. We will have learned some lessons about ourselves, our adaptability, and our creative talents in finding solutions to keep working toward and meeting our goals.”
Silvia Perez in her home office in Oviedo
Silvia Perez agreed, sharing that “studying abroad is the best way of opening eyes to other cultures and peoples and to experience and learn to respect the differences so necessary these days to understand that we need to become better citizens of the world. Those of you who have studied abroad: feel very fortunate; prospective students: keep pursuing your dream, it will come true. These times may seem uncertain but an opportunity will arise – you’ll just have to be patient and determined. A person who decides to study abroad is brave; they will be exposed to uncertainty and feel vulnerable, and they will have to face challenges that will bring rewards. This is so necessary in order to build skills that will be useful in their future lives.”
A “sewing battalion” makes masks in Segovia
Many of our site staff reflected on the experiences of the last month and saw increased solidarity. As Mary commented: “The main one for me is an increased sense of community and connection, whether that’s local, city-wide, national or global. We feel even more united as a team here in London as a result of this, and even though they’re thousands of miles away we have a unique connection with our semester students. It’s also given us an opportunity to develop some really cool new ideas for programmes!” Marian added, “This is an experience that challenges us on many levels. It gives us the opportunity to appreciate better the things we previously took for granted. We are discovering our inner strength, and can have a newer, fresher perspective for what we want to do or be going forward. We are getting clearer on what’s truly valuable in our lives and really important to us. Take the time to reflect and learn lessons you didn’t know you’d have.” Silvia also shared that “this crisis provides an opportunity to learn, cultivate compassion and build resilience. Also not to take things for granted; we are so used to having what we want when we want it, that we lose perspective of what really is important in life.”
As Kalyn summed up, “This experience has shown us the resilience of GEO students and the positive connections made in study abroad that has enabled us to feel supported and give support to our GEO alumni and faculty all over the world.” Indeed, GEO is grateful for the dedication, expertise and caring of our staff abroad as well as the continued partnership of our faculty and institutional partners. We also appreciate the even stronger global community that has emerged in 
this crisis, and are so glad to have all of you as colleagues and partners.
From all of us at GEO – and Trevor the cat – stay safe and stay healthy!