SANTA FE SPRINGS, Calif. — Jeffrey De Lira, a Southern California resident, wasn’t just accepted to Northeastern University in Boston. He received one of the school's most prestigious scholarships.

While he was understandably excited, it wasn't long before another feeling started to develop in De Lira.

“I think I’m mostly nervous,” he said. “I’m actually really worried. I’m not going to be near family, so being on my own for the first time in my life is going to be pretty scary.”

De Lira has only been on campus once, to interview for the scholarship. That was just weeks before the pandemic shut down everything.

De Lira says that without the scholarship he likely would not attend Northeastern University. The threat of the virus is great, but this opportunity is greater.

“I actually am really surprised that the school is opening up especially because COVID in the U.S. doesn’t seem to be going down. Everything just keeps rising,” he said.

Northeastern University posted the following statement:

“The university will be requiring all people studying, living, and working on campus to be tested for the coronavirus. Faculty and staff will be tested every seven days, or whenever they are on campus if their visits are less frequent than one day a week. Students will be tested the day they arrive, then on day three, followed by day five—and will be able to attend classes in person after receiving negative results on all three tests.”

September 9 is the first day of undergraduate classes at Northeastern University.

De Lira will fly to school alone and potentially won’t see his family again until Christmas. He is the youngest of three brothers. His parents did not go to college.

But what should be an exciting transition is also a scary leap of faith in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.