For many University of Minnesota students, the move to distance learning in March was merely the first brush stroke COVID-19 would paint on their lives. As the pandemic showed no signs of abating, summer plans to study abroad or gain experience through internships were often postponed or scuttled.
Suddenly faced with open calendars, students had to look for other options. Here’s how three students found opportunity and insight in canceled plans.
Covering Minneapolis for Madrid
Madeline Deninger had her summer planned: She would spend 40 hours a week doing legal writing for Thomson Reuters in Eagan. That changed in May, when the senior majoring in strategic communications learned that her internship was canceled.
Deninger scoured internship and job postings looking for an alternative. An opportunity with El Independiente, an online news outlet in Madrid, caught her attention. She would be able to report and write for an audience 4,000 miles away without leaving Minneapolis.
