Feature: Stuck on campus with Giuseppe Cimino
Giuseppe Cimino, a junior business management major, is self-isolating in an unconventional way: nearly 5,000 miles away from home.
As of March, USC Aiken announced the transition to remote instruction for the remainder of the semester. This resulted in all events being canceled and housing closing except for students with extenuating circumstances. Cimino is one of those students.
Cimino is an international student from Italy. His home is in Soverato, which is in Calabria, a region of Southern Italy. He is also a student athlete and has been playing as a midfielder position on our soccer team.
His home country is just below the United States with the second highest death rate in the world, hence the reason Giuseppe has not returned home.
According to the Washington Post, the United States passed Italy last Saturday with the highest death rate and more than 23,000 deaths confirmed.
“I wake up around one or two p.m., I eat the food that my roommates left me, I sometimes work out at the gym or play piano at the Etherredge center,” said Cimino when asked about his daily life.
He also stated that it gets lonely sometimes, so to kill time he watches a movie or walks around the campus.
As of right now, Cimino is trying to book a plane ticket back home.
According to him, it would cost around $1,300 just to fly home. His trip would include him finding a ride to Atlanta and from there, flying back to Italy. He said jokingly “I’ll take any donations after this article publishes.”
Upon return, he has to stay quarantined for 14 days before being able to see his family. He is hoping to be able to book a flight before April 28. Hopefully, he wants to find a flight as soon as possible.
A friend offered their car to Cimino for transportation around Aiken in case he needed to drive to the grocery store.
Before ending our interview, Cimino described his experience on campus.
“[It] for sure is boring but at the same time I have the whole room to myself. I have a lot of time to think about everything. But as of right now, my focus is to return home.”
