After spending my junior and senior years of high school on Zoom calls and in Google classrooms, there was a bright spot at the end of the tunnel: I was accepted into New York University. As a native New Yorker, I was excited to go to a prestigious school close to home. But when the excitement passed, I realized I would be spending my entire freshman year at NYU's campus in Florence.

As a result of applying through the early-decision process, I was expected to attend the Florence campus as part of the deal — or I would not be able to attend at all. I was also admitted to NYU's two-year liberal-studies program, which required at least one semester of studying abroad. In my case, that just so happened to be my first year of college.