Zeta Adventures: Spring Semester Abroad

Written by Caitie Bell Cowdrey & Mackenzi Mills

April 2020

---

We are lucky at Virginia Tech to have a plethora of various study abroad opportunities to take advantage of. Over the years we have been lucky enough to send some of our sisters overseas with wishes of safe travels, so that we can have them come back and tell us all about their great adventures. Unfortunately, the study abroad experiences of ZTA juniors Abby Williams (pictured left) and Nicole Chiaverini (pictured right) were cut short by the COVID-19 global pandemic. We wanted to give them an opportunity to share their experiences and reflect on their time abroad, especially after being unexpectedly uprooted from their trips. 

Nicole Chiaverini is a junior in ZTA studying fashion. She has held many roles in Zeta including sisterhood chair, historian team, and philanthropy committee. Although she considered studying abroad using Virginia Tech’s resources, she found that looking elsewhere fit her criteria better. She would encourage others that are interested in an experience like hers to branch out of their comfort zone. Nicole explained that because she went through a third party program called SAI she did not know a single soul going into it. “I was nervous but very excited to meet new people and have an experience that was just completely my own. I lucked out with the best roommate and friends that I still talk to everyday and miss so much- we made some amazing memories”. She studied in Florence, Italy and took all fashion classes from leather technology and fashion photography to wine culture in Italy. She traveled to Paris, Pisa, Tuscany, Interlaken Switzerland, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Scotland, and London all before she was instructed to come home because of COVID-19. We asked Nicole to describe her favorite day of travel to us: “My favorite day abroad was in Paris. I went to the Chanel flagship store which is something I dreamed about since I was a little girl because Chanel is my favorite. The brand is one of the many reasons I chose to become a fashion major. Being able to go into the store and purchase something and leave with the iconic rue cambon white bag is something I never thought I’d be able to do, I couldn’t stop smiling.” She explained that she misses her friends she made so much because they spent so much time together and not seeing them anymore has been very difficult.

This spring semester, Abby Williams took part in the International Business program in Lugano, Switzerland focused on combining theory and practice through the Pamplin Business School at Virginia Tech. Abby found out about the program from her older sister, Kenzie, who went on the trip in the fall of 2017. As a junior Public Relations major, she was interested in the spring session because of its focus on Marketing which is complementary to PR. Abby took three different marketing classes: Consumer Behavior, Marketing Research, and Field Practicum in Marketing, as well as, Italian courses. In total, she earned 18 credit hours by spending six hours in class, one or two hours of homework, and two hours of group projects a day! Compacting a semester’s worth of content was hard to adjust to, but by working hard during the week paid off when Abby was eating gourmet rooftop brunches and walking on tightropes over snow covered mountain peaks, and of course traveling out of the country during the 10 day breaks. 

Abby explored many different places in Switzerland, such as Lugano, Zurich, Bellinzona, Zermatt, and Interlocken. Outside of Switzerland, she traveled to Venice, Florence, and Tusacny in Italy, Munich, Germany, London, England, Edinburgh, Scotland, Dublin and Galway in Ireland, and lastly, Paris, France. When we asked about her favorite day abroad, Abby’s memory jumped straight to the day of the “Carnevale Celebration” in Venice, Italy. Abby and her friends spent the day exploring the city dressed in feathery masks. Abby said, “during the sunset, we sat waterside and watched the sky turn colors over the waves. A street performer played acoustic American songs in the background while we hung out and soaked in the beauty in front of us.” This was a day she would truly never forget.

As the trip ended abruptly due to the pandemic, Abby said there were a few weeks of uncertainty and the situation about the program ending or not was constantly changing. She is still disappointed after leaving all her friends but is keeping positive knowing the current situation is bigger than their abroad trip. “While I’m still sad by the way things ended so suddenly, I try to remind myself of the blessing that we all made it home safely and get to be back with our family and friends.” Abby said that she will miss the people the most, even though living with three people with no windows or storage is not ideal, she will miss having a whole floor of friends to live with. Overall, she misses the environment of living with people she did not know too well at first, but bonded through sharing this experience that no one else could understand. “We really became a family.”

Abby advises future travelers to “let go of any preconceived ideas of what it will be like, because it probably won’t be what you expected.” There will be times where you hate it and just want to go home, times you look at your friends snapchats back at school and want to cry, and times where you’re exhausted. But for all the hard moments, there’s a million more moments when you never want to leave, can’t get enough of exploring new places, cry laughing with your new friends, and feel so blessed to be able to experience something so memorable. And most importantly... learn how to pack for 10 days in a carry on.”

Nicole told us, “I think the main benefit of studying abroad is that you get to experience an entirely new culture first hand and meet new people that you would’ve otherwise never met.” When asked about coming home early she said it was very difficult because she had been planning for and working toward this trip since her senior year of highschool. “I was just really frustrated and stressed out about the virus especially since I was in Italy so at the same time I just wanted to get out of there and go home and be done worrying.” However, she gave some advice for any future student travelers, “ Never say no to an opportunity abroad, do everything you can and live in the moment, and don’t waste your days away because as cliche as it sounds, you never know when it can all be taken away from you in the blink of an eye.”

At a time like this we are glad our girls are home safe, but feel for them and their lost time in Europe. Although, we know that they are staying positive and made the best of their time. We encourage girls to continue to study abroad when it is safe and hope this shows that flexibility and positivity is the key to a memorable experience.