Karley Nadolski
Class of 2021 | Economics and Letters | Burlington, Wisconsin
Hello! My name is Karley Nadolski. I’m a junior at the University of Oklahoma studying economics and letters, and (just like everyone else in the world) this semester didn’t go the way that I planned it. Unlike the other thousands of OU students who planned to spend this spring semester studying in the Biz, hopping around Campus Corner restaurants after Friday classes, getting excited for the Norman Music Festival, or enjoying the springtime flowers on the South Oval, I planned on spending six months living in South America.
By mid-February, weeks before the first case of COVID-19 would be confirmed on American soil, my bags were packed for a semester of adventure in Montevideo, Uruguay. I felt all of the normal emotions associated with an experience like study abroad: excitement beyond belief, curiosity for the new culture I was immersing myself in, self-consciousness for my Spanish-language abilities, and anxiety for all of the unfamiliar and uncomfortable experiences I would be learning so much from during the next few months. The first few weeks passed by in a flash.
I arrived at my host family’s home in downtown Montevideo early on a Sunday morning. I remember pinching myself on several occasions during my first week, trying to see if it was all a wonderfully-scary-dream. While drinking mate and eating bizcochos on la rambla while the sun was setting, or trying and failing to easily communicate with the kind man at the grocery store, or walking to the Plaza Independencia under countless Uruguayan flags to watch the inauguration of a brand new president, I started to feel comfortable in a new city halfway across the world. My host family, my roommate (another OU student), and I would spend hours at the dinner table talking about politics, culture, and history. We often talked about el coronavirús (the coronavirus) in a detached, but cautionary, way. We didn’t know exactly how or when the virus would come to South America. I tried not to worry too much about any of it. It was still summer in the Southern Hemisphere when I arrived, so we headed to the beach in our free time before anyone knew what “social distancing” meant.
“I know that, even though it was abbreviated, I will cherish the memories from my study abroad experience for a long time. It was so hard to leave, but that makes me even more thankful that I was able to come home to a school that I love so much."
- Karley Nadolski
Things changed quickly when the first cases were confirmed in Uruguay. On March 13, the Uruguayan government confirmed five cases in the entire country. Almost immediately, schools, museums, and other public spaces closed. Much like what happened in the United States, people began buying toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and masks. Instead of talking around the dinner table we often watched the nightly news broadcasts from the Uruguayan government. Other American students started to receive emails from their home universities telling them that their program was canceled and they were advised to return to the United States as soon as possible. I remember trying to hold on to any sense of normalcy that I created for myself in Montevideo. While I was in Uruguay, I wanted to take advantage of every opportunity I was still able to have. I was so nervous that the study abroad experience that I had been dreaming about since high school would be cut so short. I desperately wanted to stay. Soon, though, it became increasingly obvious that the global situation would become much worse before it got better.
I got an email from OU on March 17 telling me that it was strongly recommended that I return home. Tears were shed. I called my parents, who helped me find a flight home, and tried to think of the situation as one of many sacrifices that people were having to make. My last few days in Montevideo were spent in quarantine, but every day I made sure to take a walk through Parque Rodó to see the coast of the Río de la Plata. When the day arrived, I said a sad goodbye to my host family and to the country that I was getting to know. International travel is anxiety-inducing at the most normal times. International travel during a pandemic was even more so. I arrived in Dallas after 27 hours of traveling and prepared myself for 14 days of quarantine in Norman. This past week, I officially finished my quarantine. I’m still trying to take a lot of walks. Only now, I get to walk the familiar path from the Lloyd Noble Center to the South Oval. In times when nothing feels certain, it has been nice to walk around a campus that feels like home after the last three years.
I didn’t expect my study abroad experience to end the way that it did, but I think it’s fair to say that nobody expected this semester to go the way that it has. That being said, I’m still so grateful for the time that I got to spend abroad. One of the main reasons I chose to come to OU was because of the education abroad program. Because of the opportunities I have as an OU student, I traveled to Uruguay. I was able to practice my Spanish for a full month with a host family who I am so lucky to know. I am still able to take online classes through my university in Montevideo, which has been great for the last few weeks.
I know that, even though it was abbreviated, I will cherish the memories from my study abroad experience for a long time. It was so hard to leave, but that makes me even more thankful that I was able to come home to a school that I love so much.
