COVID and Classes

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Romina Pinto

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Romina Pinto

<i>"Hello" in your host country's language:</i> Hello <i>Home Institution (your U.S. University/College):</i> University of South Carolina <i>Expected graduation year:</i> 2022 <i>Destination city & country:</i> Canterbury, United Kingdom <i>Program provider:</i> University of Kent <i>Major/minor:</i> Major: International Studies Minor: Linguistics <i>Demographics:</i> First-generation, non-traditional <i>Future career aspirations:</i> After graduation, I would like to pursue a master's degree abroad in Global Security and Borders or in Violence, Terrorism, and Security. My goal is to be a part of an international project or international nonprofit organization to help bring the best practices to law enforcement or assistance generally, to improve the lives of people. Especially vulnerable communities, where families face violence or other critical issues that threaten their safety and impede their development and progress. <i>Top 3 goals for your time abroad:</i> 1- Broaden my knowledge and gain the necessary expertise to strengthen my professional competencies regarding international cooperation and international security matters. 2- Increase my understanding regarding the UK's new role in Europe as the Brexit process takes place and how this affects the UK and neighboring countries. 3- Engage with a diverse community from whom I can draw more insight and different perspectives into the world, as well as establish lasting friendships and a network of contacts to further a cultural and professional collaboration.

This past week I have been feeling under the weather with a cold. It seems that something is going around because I have noticed other students with cold symptoms as well. At school, COVID precautions are still in place with a reduced number of students during seminars, and I make sure to keep wearing my mask. Students are also required to take a COVID test twice a week. The school provides self-test kits that students can take home. These are rapid antigen tests, and the results need to be reported to the NHS website. I have been pretty much at home since classes on Thursday, waiting for my symptoms to subside. Over the weekend, I have been working on my third essay. I just need to make some revisions, and it should be ready. This week, I also started to prepare for my fourth essay for the module on Terrorism and Political Violence. The prompt requires students to evaluate the term “new terrorism” and explain whether we agree with the term or not. I have searched for sources and read the necessary material, and I plan to start writing today. The university recently informed international students, who are only here for one term of the due date for the essays that will replace the final exams in each module. This date has been set for January 21st. This means that I will need to write four more essays by that date. I would like to have everything completed before January 10th, as my classes in the Spring start that day. Time will be a little tight, but I hope I can make it work. I am also preparing for my return to the US, and I have already registered for classes for the next semester. I will be taking five Linguistics classes to complete my minor requirements, and in the summer, I will take two classes towards my major. After that, I should have completed all my requirements for graduation. I know this last semester will be busy as well, but I am excited! Today, I started to feel better and decided to go for a short walk. I saw a lovely rainbow!