From Naomi Watkins, junior psychology major:

Photo courtesy of Naomi Watkins.

“The shut-down really brought what felt like a dark cloud over me. I was not planning to move-out so soon; in fact, I was planning to live on campus in the summer due to some family issues back home. The fact that I was basically forced to move out of my housing when I was not even planning to move out over the summer was extremely stressful and upsetting. Moreover, I have never taken any online classes before because I concentrate much better in person. Now with classes being online, it has been extremely difficult to pay attention.

The Estonia Summer study away program I was supposed to be a part of got cancelled. This was discouraging to not only to students, but the faculty members who worked for months to get our flights and housing situated. 

I know the majority of my professors never used Zoom before the shut-down, so they had to cancel classes for the rest of the week of the announcement to teach themselves how to use it.

During the last week of living on-campus, I had to scramble to find out how I was going to go to work and move out of my apartment. I was blessed with an amazing roommate and her family to help me move out my things into a storage unit nearby. It may not seem like a big deal to some, but as an out of state student with no car, it was. Transitioning back home while still having to do school work is something I am still trying to get used to, since I’ve only been home for vacations.

Home for me is Massachusetts. I ultimately chose to go home because my mom was extremely worried for me to not have anyone with me on campus in the midst of everything. Even though I didn’t want to fly back home because of the virus spreading so fast, I have the necessary sanitizing tools to keep myself safe. I stayed with my roommate and her family after moving off campus, and I’ve been extremely blessed to have somewhere to stay while others may not have.”