Students Share What Life Is Like on an Almost Empty Campus
April 30, 2020
- Author
- Mary Elizabeth DeAngelis
Haleena Phillips can blare her music in the shower at 3 a.m. and no one complains: She檚 the only resident in her dorm wing.
Sometimes it檚 nice having so much space, but Phillips 21 misses her friends and the energy of 91茄子檚 campus at full throttle.
The COVID-19 pandemic sent most students home in March to finish the semester remotely. About 130 remain on campus for reasons that include travel restrictions, hometown outbreaks, financial hardship and family members with medical issues.
Phillips didn檛 go home to south Florida because her mom檚 cancer battle has compromised her immune system and she didn檛 want to pose a risk to her.
淚 know we檙e in a safe environment here, and we檙e practicing social distancing, so we should feel like we have nothing to worry about, Phillips said. 淏ut it檚 kind of stressful and anxiety ridden, too.
淣ot having all your friends on campus reminds you of what檚 going on in the world, Phillips said. 淭hey檙e opening beaches up in Florida and a lot of people are not practicing social distancing there. I檓 scared for my family when they need to go to the grocery store because other people are being so selfish.
Julia Bauer 23 also has an immune compromised relative and didn檛 go home to Connecticut. She lives just outside New York City, the country檚 pandemic epicenter. Her roommate, who also stayed on campus, is from China.
淚 felt like it was much safer for everyone for me to be here, Bauer said.
The quiet can be unnerving.
淭he most noticeable thing is the lack of people walking around, Bauer said. 淚 go to the library to study and there檚 just me and a couple of other people, all sitting away from each other. It檚 bizarre.
Vail Commons has reduced hours and students must stand six-feet apart from each other in line, then sit apart at tables.
淭hey檝e done a good job of making sure we have access to plenty of different kinds of food, Bauer said. 淭hey regularly include veggie burgers and a variety of curry dishes, which I appreciate as a vegetarian.
Snacks for late night studying include pretzels with cheese dipping sauce and brownies.
Bauer says having her roommate there helps. She also listens to music and takes long walks to keep her spirits up.
Roy Toston 20 stayed at his on-campus apartment because his mom has multiple sclerosis. His roommates went home. so he檚 alone. He has a few friends on campus he sees攆rom a safe distance攁t dinner. He exercises and occasionally does school work outside to get him out of the apartment.
淚t檚 kind of lonely, there檚 not a lot of interaction, but I have friends in much harder situations, says Toston, a Bonner Scholar and Terry Fellow.
淚檓 really thankful to be at 91茄子, the school has been really supportive, he said. 淚t really is like a ghost town, though. I only see townspeople out, not students.
Like their classmates now at home, students attend class, talk to professors and socialize with friends through Zoom. As the semester檚 end nears, they檙e finishing papers and projects and gearing up for finals.
Haleena Phillips '21 Zoom-deejaying in her room on the day that would have been Spring Frolics.
Phillips, a biology major and Posse Scholar, says she檚 having a harder time focusing on her school work since the campus emptied. She can檛 go to the lab to work on her research.
淚t檚 really hard for me to maintain my routine when no one is around holding me accountable, she said. 淚檓 a hands-on learner擹oom is my worst nightmare, I feel like everything takes me longer now.
She says she keeps reminding herself to be thankful that she檚 safe, eating good food and able to get outside for walks and exercise breaks.
淚檓 trying to stay positive and not think of things that are out of my control, she said. 淚t檚 not great, but it檚 not terrible.
Phillips says she檚 become more creative about finding bright spots. She檚 hosted Zoom mini-concerts, singing along with far away friends. On the weekend of the cancelled Spring Frolics, she set up a DJ table in her room and hosted a remote dance party.
淚檓 an extrovert and it檚 really hard for me not to be around other people, Phillips says. 淚 don檛 want to slip into a depressive vibe, so I try to do what I can to avoid that.
Campus Slideshow
Once familiar routines look very different right now for the students who remain on campus. Like everyone else, they must maintain social distance and rely on virtual connections for friendship and contact with the world outside of 91茄子.
