Blame falls on State Department for leaving travelers with little information
The Study Abroad department at Kirkwood has cancelled or rescheduled several short-term study abroad programs like the France and England photography study abroad, as well as the Scotland study abroad for the business program.
This has left many students devastated that they couldn’t attend the program and make life long memories. They are devastated that the experience they have been saving up for and looking forward to has now been cancelled, leaving students to wait another year or graduate without the experience.
However, Kirkwood has been doing its best to make smart decisions about traveling to other countries and the COVID situations and conditions that arise with that travel.
Kirkwood uses the State Department’s travel advisory system to see if they would be able to travel to those countries. However, the system isn’t perfect with listings not being updated often, and the State Department not taking into account the situation in those countries.
It makes it hard for the college to make a decision on whether to go or not because of a lack of information and guidance from the State Department.
However, it is understandable that the college has to take caution when it comes to traveling abroad with students and making sure they are safe.
Don’t let this setback stop you from experiencing other cultures. In fact, there are many countries that are safe to travel to right now. Many countries in Africa have Level 1 travel advisories as well as countries like Australia and Austria.
Even if you don’t feel like traveling now, travel while you have the energy and the time because you will look back and wish you would have traveled sooner. Money will always come back. Time never will.
Categories: Opinion, Staff Editorials
