When 61 NC State students set out for the European Center in Prague in January, they hardly expected their five month program would be canceled during spring break, with only hours to get back to Prague from their excursions all over Europe and book flights home. Since the spring program’s cancellation, the center has canceled both the classic and connect programs for the fall, per UNC System guidance, according to Megan Winzeler, associate director for the European Center in Prague.
Among the 61 students who returned home was Michael Zamojcin, a fourth-year studying graphic design. Zamojcin had been planning on studying in Prague since his freshman orientation to meet the study abroad requirement for the College of Design.
“You think about what you missed out on and what you wish you got to see, but on the other hand you’re just so thankful that you were able to even get that experience and to be able to go to those places in the time that we could,” Zamojcin said.
According to Winzeler, 31 students, primarily architecture students filling their study abroad requirement for the College of Design, were committed to the fall classic program when it was canceled. The connect program is for first-year students who are admitted to NC State for the spring, and its application deadline was during the same week the program was canceled.
Winzeler said she is working with the students who were planning to study abroad in the fall to defer their applications to a different semester. She said so far about one-third of architecture students from the fall program have expressed interest in studying abroad next spring.
One of the changes the program is considering is offering the architecture courses and studios, traditionally only offered in the fall, in the spring.
“Even before the program was canceled, we had been talking to the architecture department about the feasibility of that, in the case that fall would be canceled,” Winzeler said. “They have been great to work with and they have been working with students to make sure that their courses that they can register for on campus in the fall will help facilitate a process for them to be able to study abroad in Prague in the spring.”
Due to cancellations, Winzeler said the program has no money coming in and is looking for creative ways to maintain its resources in Prague. One idea includes offering NC State courses to European students.
Winzeler also said that most instructors at the Prague center only teach one course for NC State, so they have not been largely impacted by the cancellations. These faculty are still employed at their base institutions which have continued online instruction and are beginning to reopen.
The Prague office has been impressed by the attitudes of the students who have been impacted by the program’s cancellation, according to Winzeler.
As for students whose programs got cancelled entirely, Zamojcin recommends taking the time to learn about the Czech culture.
“It’s not the same as taking part in it, but even just learning about the things that people across the world are doing, it’s so interesting and hopefully they can get the chance to go again another time,” Zamojcin said. “But I would definitely at least try and reach out, try and talk to people online, try and find and connect with people across the world. It’s really something.”
In addition to providing mental health resources including yoga, meditation, workout classes and other online resources to Prague students, the office has also worked to make parts of the culture virtual.
According to Winzeler, one instructor filmed an Instagram Live cooking demonstration in April where she dyed Easter eggs in the Czech style. Other ways students have maintained a connection to Prague is by learning Czech recipes and joining Zoom sessions to catch up with Prague staff.
Sam Olmsted, a fourth-year studying architecture in the spring program, said one of the most difficult adjustments upon returning home was the lack of collaboration design students faced with online learning. However, Olmsted said this experience brought bigger lessons, even if the program’s unexpected brevity was disappointing.
“I think that my greatest takeaway is that things in life will go wrong sometimes and you have to learn how to adapt,” Olmsted said. “To feel that stress of getting home so quickly, I think about it as a learning experience and a great way to learn how to cope with overwhelming stress with similar situations.”
For the students who get to study abroad in the future, Olmsted’s advice is to do everything you want to do and not push anything back because you never know what is going to happen.
NC State Prague is now accepting applications for Spring 2021.
