A round of applause erupted in Simon Lopez’s chemistry class when he walked into the room on Monday.
After being stuck with his family in Mexico since December due to issues with his visa application, the UF chemistry professor returned to teaching his classes at UF.
With the government temporarily reopening, the U.S. Embassy was able to streamline Lopez’s visa on Thursday. He then bought tickets for a flight back to Orlando on Sunday.
“I’ve received so much support, not only from students, but from my colleagues and other staff members,” Lopez said. “I’m really glad to feel like I’m back home.”
Some of Lopez’s students, like CJ Lockwood, a 21-year-old UF environmental science senior, initially struggled to adjust to Lopez’s replacement Jason Portmess, a UF chemistry senior lecturer. Lockwood knew that Portmess taught differently than Lopez, so he was glad to resume with his traditional teacher.
“I’m glad he’s back,” Lockwood said. “It is much nicer knowing that everything will be more streamlined now.”
Everything returned to normal, and even though the switch was challenging, it was positive in other respects, Portmess wrote in an email.
“This is a credit to the students’ ability to step up and accept the situation for what it was,” Portmess said.
Contact Mikayla Carrol at mcarroll@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @mikaylacaro11.
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