Uku Urb from Estonia attended Clayton State - all packed up and ready to go

GRSP student Cristina, her parents, and Club President Randy Nixon at East Cobb's gala charity giveaway dinner in February

Have you ever had that feeling of thinking you’d had a blow to the chest, but there wasn’t anyone around you? Not like a heart attack, but a sick feeling in your entire body. Many of us felt that way as we helped our student move out of their dorms, sometimes on short notice. I got the call from my student who was on spring break in a video call. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she was unable to speak. Imagine how I felt. I was nearly relieved to hear that her father had demanded she get on a flight back to Carrollton, pack up immediately and come home. She did not want to leave, but we both knew that it was the right choice for her. Sweden would probably close their borders soon and since her father was on the frontlines of the COVID-19 response, he would have better information than most.

As she packed the night before she was to leave, her flights kept on being canceled and a very early morning call to me on Wednesday meant her flight had been moved up by 8 hours and I needed to be there earlier than planned. The annual stuffing of the suitcases to return home took on a whole new meaning. And there wasn’t enough time to wash sheets or towels or nicely pack up other items in plastic tubs. All was thrown in a pile in the back of my truck with the bicycle on top to keep it from blowing out.

Running by the bank to close the account and then dashing to the airport to leave seemed to grind to a halt as I hugged my Swedish daughter goodbye. During the flight across the pond, her connection was again canceled, so she spent 10 hours at Heathrow and had to take a flight into Copenhagen where her family could not meet her. I cannot imagine coming back home after 7 months with no one to greet me. She taxied across the bridge to the border and I received confirmation she was finally home around midnight (Swedish time).

Many of our host families and trustees have similar stories. We still have five students that are in the US – one is couch surfing and the others are with friends or host families. We are hearing that some universities will be sending out refunds at some point and these will go back to the clubs when received. Online classes are being held and there will be no refund for anything except room and board, if that, so please encourage your student to continue their courses online. It will only add to their resumé and general knowledge, even if the courses won’t transfer.

STUDENTS 2020-2021

We still don’t know how this will affect next year. Please know that GRSP is just as much in the dark about what will happen as you are. The executive committee has decided not to make any decisions until we have more information and move a little further in to the Pandemic. We are concerned that students will not have enough time to get their Visa and we are also concerned that these students don’t jeopardize other opportunities they may have by waiting too long to hear from GRSP. At this point in time, we are moving forward with asking that universities continue to issue the documents that a student will need in order to get a Visa to the US. This will likely be slow anyway as international offices of the universities are not working full time. We will be in constant contact with our trustees and will keep you informed through them as we have additional information.