diary entry :- about school life before coronavirus
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August 24, 2020
I got up with the sun and birds. “Senior year, here I come,” I thought to myself. I got ready, grabbed a quick breakfast, and headed out the door. I was on my way to my first class of the day when I heard the bell. Students rushed past me to get to class but I seemed to be stuck in place. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t — or wouldn’t — take another step. The bell rang louder and louder until I just couldn’t take it anymore. My eyes snapped wide open. Turns out that bell was actually my alarm clock, and I was still in bed, not school. My dream had only really gotten one thing right: It was indeed my last first day of school.
Explanation:
In this personal account of living through the coronavirus pandemic as a US graduate student, I reflect on the major events and themes that defined the time: the hasty closure of university campuses, the clumsy transition to remote learning, the economic consequences, the controversial reopening of campuses, and finally, my hopes for US higher education as it acclimates to a new reality.
KEYWORDS: COVID-19Coronovirusstudent experienceonline educationgraduate education
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When I look back at this time in my life and in the history of the world, a few distinct moments will define it. The first was the moment I realized that, after months of denial from the national government, the threat of the Coronavirus was serious. My first clue that all was not as well as it was made out to be was the March 11 email sent from the office of the President of Boston College, the institution I was then attending as a graduate student, announcing the immediate suspension of in-person classes and giving students four days to pack up and leave campus. It struck me as a desperate last resort, a response to an emergency, knowing that the university would never willingly close unless the situation was truly dire. The message came one day after a state of emergency was declared in Massachusetts. Students had only returned from their spring break vacations two days earlier.
I was in London at the time, having just arrived the morning before to attend the wedding of a cousin, at the time, feeling that travel was worth the risk. A day later, I woke up to the news that the US would now restrict all incoming travel from Europe, with the exception of the UK. Anxious that the next round of restrictions might keep me from returning home, I moved through the rest of the trip cautiously.
Coming home was another watershed moment. Boston was already an emerging virus hotspot when I left for London, but when I returned less than five days later it was to a different city, one on the brink of shutting down. I wasn’t allowed back on campus for my part-time job at Boston University until I completed a 14-day self-quarantine recommended by the CDC for anyone who had traveled outside of the United States. The ability to work from home meant that I didn’t have to panic about losing income, but I was worried about missing out on in-person interactions with members of my team. In just days, all non-essential staff, which included my entire team, were required to work from home, and my concerns became irrelevant. I was also employed part-time as a graduate assistant at the Boston College Career Center, which also transitioned to remote work around the same period. The speed at which all of this happened was dizzying. In less than one week, life as I knew it had changed completely.