“It was the first thing I woke up to, and I immediately started crying. I didn’t want to believe it was true. I was in complete devastation and disbelief,” said Kyra Miles.

21-year-old Miles has been planning to study abroad in South Korea since she was 14. She came to UNC in Fall 2017, so determined that she even wrote in her 4-year spreadsheet that one semester of her junior year would be spent abroad. Despite receiving the coveted Phillips Ambassador scholarship, her dream has been put on hold not only because of COVID-19, but because of the ultimatum given to her by the University.

“After other people started getting pulled from their programs, I guess me and my friends who were also from UNC had delusions,” Miles said. “[We] were like ‘Oh that’s not going to be us, we’ll be ok,’ because it was mostly kids from small private universities.”

On Thursday, February 27, only a week after arriving in South Korea, Miles received an email stating that UNC decided to cancel all study abroad programs in South Korea for the Spring 2020 semester. She had two options: come back to the States and take 6 credit hours (online or independent study) or withdraw from the University only to be re-enrolled the following semester.

Miles said, “I don’t want that on my transcript. If I come home, I don’t think I’ll be able to graduate on time.”

Miles is a student pursuing a double major in Journalism and Global Studies as well as a minor in Korean. She was enrolled in 15 credit hours through her direct exchange program at Korea University. Two of her classes, Global Media & Journalism and Intro to Media Criticism, counted towards her conceptual credit in the Hussman School. Advanced Korean I and Introduction to Korean History would fulfill her Global Studies major, while a Korean literature course would contribute to her minor.

Upon receiving the email, Kyra laid in bed crying. Shortly thereafter, she and her peers started sending emails to numerous members of administration: President Roper, Chancellor Guskiewicz, Provost Blouin, and directors within the Global Affairs Office. While some students were fervently messaging back and forth, others’ parents had already booked their flights home.

“My parents know how important this is to me. They want me to stay,” Miles said. “This semester is my brother’s graduation from high school. I knew I was going to be missing that. There’s a bunch of things that I sacrificed as well and my family understood.”

Nationally, only 6.1% of Black students studied abroad from 2017-2018, and the numbers have remained dismal and stagnant. With savings accumulated from her summer 2019 internship, a combination of federal loans, along with the Phillips Ambassador Program, Miles funded her entire study abroad experience herself. The day she was notified that she had received the scholarship, she cried.

Miles (far left) featured with the Spring 2020 Phillips Ambassadors Cohort

Miles said, “[I cried] because I knew I needed Phillips to study abroad. My college fund was exhausted, so regardless of whether I studied abroad or not, I would need to get a scholarship or take out more loans.”

The Phillips Ambassadors Program gives $5000 to select students across all majors with a minimum 3.0 GPA who are applying to university-approved study abroad programs. Ambassadors are selected on the basis of attributes such as academic achievement, leadership, strong communication skills, and “a clear understanding and articulation of how Asia and one’s study abroad experience fit into long-term goals.” Graduating seniors are not eligible to apply.

Give Back Projects are another component of the program, in which students are obligated to share their knowledge and serve the Carolina community through outreach. In addition to a 10-page research paper, Miles intended to create a podcast about different parts of non-mainstream Korean culture. While in South Korea, Miles and other ambassadors abroad have to respond to forum posts and discuss their diverse experiences.

Prior to her departure from the States, Miles stocked up on makeup because products in her skin color are not readily available or cheap. She said that being in a college town like Seoul, residents are used to seeing foreigners and she had yet to experience microaggressions from the locals. Recounting when someone attempted to take a picture of her on the train the day before, Miles laughed and said, “At that point, I had my hood up and my mask on so I was like, ‘She can go ahead.’”

Miles entered the country wearing a mask, but apart from coronavirus concerns, Seoul residents naturally take air pollution seriously. When she arrived, there were only 40 cases of coronavirus in the entire country. By February 23, the rate was up to 400, due in part to a religious sect that was allegedly spreading it deliberately. Because of COVID-19, the first day of classes was pushed from March 2 to March 16. By February 29, the total number of cases had risen to 2000.

“I’m just as concerned about catching the virus as I am concerned about catching the flu,” Miles said in her dorm room. “[Seoul] is not a ghost town. People still go about and live their daily lives and are just more considerate.”

Miles said that signs regarding coronavirus are posted everywhere in Chinese, English, and Korean, hand sanitizers are installed on trains, and people have limited the use of public transit and mingling in markets. Due to extensive testing and thousands of individuals self-quarantining, the rate of coronavirus has actually decreased in South Korea as North Carolina simultaneously declares a state of emergency.

UNC administration responded to the students’ emails from South Korea, with a standard, generic message from Chancellor Guskiewicz as well as replies from Vice Provost of Global Affairs Barbara Stephenson and Associate Dean for Study Abroad Heather Ward. Associate Dean Ward strongly encouraged students to come home.

“They said if we stay, we cannot guarantee University support. We didn’t know what that meant. My advisor told me it was more of a liability thing, but I don’t have that in writing,” Miles said. “If that is the case, I could just stay here. I just run the risk that if something really bad does happen then you know…”

Despite a financial aid loophole that would allow her to stay, Miles made the decision to come back to North Carolina on March 11. With mounting pressure from the University encouraging students to leave, she didn’t want her study abroad experience to be full of uncertainty about what might happen. As her host university in Korea transitioned to online classes indefinitely, she wondered if the situation would worsen.

As she self-quarantines for the next 14 days, Miles will not be taking any spring classes. Ironically, neither will other UNC students — not in person, at least. Upon hearing today’s news that UNC would also be moving to an online format, she felt admittedly frustrated, citing that the administration was more concerned about global liability than student safety. She still wants to try and graduate on time and intends to take summer classes in order to do so. Regardless, she says she will make sure she returns to Korea in the fall.

“With all of these challenges that have been presented to me, it just makes me realize that I really, really want to do this. I’m not going to just let it go. It’s good to be put in situations that make you think about what you want out of life. If anything, I know I want to be in Korea for an extended amount of time,” Miles said.

Black & Abroad: A Dream Deferred