Home from college during COVID-19
When I packed for Spring Break, I thought I’d be coming back to school. I packed some
heavy winter clothes to leave at home, one pair of pajama pants, and all my dirty clothes that I
wanted to wash. We didn’t think the hugs or goodbyes would be the last for months. Break was
supposed to be only two weeks after all! I flew through New York City so I was already nervous
about getting sick, but things were still calm. People weren’t really wearing masks--I was the
only one on the plane with a mask on. I went to New Orleans with my best friend from high
school, stocked with hand sanitizer, but not too scared. We even sang Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” for
20 seconds to make sure that we were appropriately washing our hands for the right amount of
time. Mid-break, however, my semester was delayed.
Okay, I thought. Not horrible, just a little longer. I’ll be back in April, no problem.
Then it got worse. Emails piled up as I tried not to stress out about the situation. I was
scared of getting sick, of having other people get sick. Things were getting worse. And really, no
one knew what was happening. I anxiously waited to learn what was going to happen.
I studied abroad in Paris during the fall semester, and I’m so thankful that I was able to
be abroad. But I was gone and away from a lot of my friends, so I was really excited to be back
on Vassar’s campus! I would’ve been able to see the snow on the library lawn (it’s really
beautiful), have more late night banana bread bakes with my suitemates, and even in-person
classes. I didn’t realize how much I would miss going to class.
Being forced to come home mid-semester from college is awkward. As a 21 year old
junior in college, I had 2.5 years of living in a dorm on a campus over a thousand miles away
from home. I learned how to take care of myself when I had the flu, advocate for myself to
faculty and admin when I felt overwhelmed, and learn how to just be on my own. I perfected my
room set-up so that I had the best place to study : at my desk with my pictures of my parents and
best friends in frames, my pens neatly lined up in the left-hand corner, and my tea kettle on my
mini-fridge. I had a routine in college and a certain set of expectations, and having that all of a
sudden taken away is weird. It’s shocking and wildly disruptive. I thought I’d be living in my
room until late May, not for only a little over a month.
I do love being home. I have my parents and my three dogs. I have access to great snacks
whenever I want them, and I can shower without shower shoes. Being home is great. But it isn’t
college. It feels so weird trying to do college level classes when I haven’t had to do homework at
home since high school. I moved to a new state before college even started, so I’ve never even
been home in April.
It’s been about a month at home, and I’m just now starting to get into the swing of things.
My classes are all online, but they’re now falling into a routine. My Zoom classes are not the
same as in-person classes.They can be really awkward since we sit with our microphones muted
until we want to talk, so sometimes there’s a pause until someone unmutes themselves. I also still
sometimes talk when my mic is muted without realizing it, so I’m getting used to it, too. It’s hard
to balance schoolwork and friends while being at home with my parents and my dogs. For me,
college was supposed to be in New York, not Memphis. Trying to make it work here without
being able to leave my house and go sit in a coffee shop or library has been so hard. I’m really
lucky since my professors have been accommodating, and my parents are really understanding
when I have class time. It makes it less stressful but still hard.
I’m trying to stay positive though! I call my friends multiple times a week, and we play
card games to try to feel like we’re all back together. My future housemates and I are still
planning what our house is going to look like, birthday parties, things to cook. My suitemates
and I still update each other on the random things we do everyday. I bought the same essential
oil kit I had at school to make me feel a little more at home. I put new pictures up of my friends
from college. Being home is hard, and this isn’t how college should’ve been for me. But I’m
thankful that I have a home to come back to, parents who support me, friends who keep me
laughing, and another year left at school. This will end, and I’m happy to be doing my part by
staying home and keeping my community safe. I know I will never take for granted being able to
go to a coffee shop, going grocery shopping, being crammed in a crowded subway at rush hour
or not being able to find a place to sit in the dining hall again!
