Hello everyone!
Life? Chaotic. The first half of this week was completely normal and it’s hard to look back with the knowledge of how events unfolded now and think of a time when the only thing I was worried about was an art midterm. An update on the art midterm: it was challenging but I think it went alright. Also, as if this week was not already crazy enough it SNOWED on Friday and Saturday
In the span of about 12 hours everyone’s life at Lewis & Clark completely changed. We went to bed Wednesday night just like any night previously. I was sitting in the library on Thursday at 10:30am with my friend Catherine when we got the first of many emails. In the email, the president of the college announced that Lewis & Clark would be moving to online classes for the remainder of the school year in response to the Corona virus outbreak and students were free to return to their homes if they wanted to.
I have been fortunate to be on committees and attend meetings where I got information directly from the Dean of Students, Robin Holmes-Sullivan. On Thursday and Friday I was in and out of meetings trying to learn as much as I could about the situation at hand and be able to relay accurate information to the student body. As of today, Lewis & Clark remains open with classes happening via online systems like Zoom and students that choose not to return home or literally cannot go home are staying in the dorms and being fed at the dining hall.
As soon as the news released some students already made plans to return home. Some of my friends have gotten on flights this weekend and others have plans to leave in the upcoming week or so. For me, I have been constantly going back and forth between staying on campus or returning home to Minnesota. About half the people I know at LC are staying and the other half are leaving. For now I have decided to stay on campus at LC because I am paying so much for room and board still and I feel that moving across the country is the opposite of what I should be doing if I want to not spread the disease further. By remaining on campus, I have access to resources and I have my job which is important because I need money. I also have a support system with all the other students staying because we are going through the same thing. Since we still have classes, staying in the pacific time zone adds to the ease of live online classes I have to attend. I think that, for me, moving across the country back into my house with my family would be counterproductive to my completion of classes and would put even more stress on my mental and emotional well-being.
The fact that we still have classes this week is frustrating (our spring break is not until the week after) because so many students are in the midst of a huge, abrupt transition of moving back home and adjusting to a new life again. There is also the added stress, anxiety, fear, and sadness that all these students are going through which makes it literally impossible to do anything like homework or studying. I wish the school would postpone classes this week to give students a chance to continue working out their plans for moving or staying and adjust to the change.
None of this has been easy for anyone. Now that we are entering the new week of online classes I am realizing all the things I have lost because of it. I thrive during in-person classes and I am worried about not being able to engage with material the same way if it is all online. I love getting to see my friends during classes and catch up with people I don’t usually hangout with outside of those classes. It takes losing something to realize what you had. I also realized how many activities I am losing because of this. Dance Y is no longer happening so I have no dance rehearsals to attend anymore. Spring Carnival and all other events we were planning for CAB are over now. We don’t have our climbing class anymore since you can’t really do that online and the gym is closed. All the symposiums were cancelled: the Gender Studies Symposium got cut off early and the International Affairs symposium is no longer happening. Festival of Scholars will not be happening. Commencement for the graduating students is not going to be the same large celebration. College Outdoors had to cancel all trips for the remainder of the semester. Lewis & Clark is not unique in its cancellation of so many events and activities.
With all the changes that are happening, I have also been working through a decision to pull out of the Thailand study abroad program happening in the fall. We received an email on Wednesday stating that no decisions have been made about cancelling the program yet but that they are monitoring the situation. However, with everything that is going on it has pushed me to reevaluate the rest of my time at LC and how I want to spend it. Right now I am highly considering not going abroad in the fall of my junior year and instead trying to go abroad in the fall of senior year to Tanzania. I had originally applied to go to Tanzania for this coming fall but the program was unable to run with the low attendance numbers. I have accepted that I risk not going abroad at all with LC if something were to happen to the Fall 2021 Tanzania program but it is a risk I am willing to take. I figure I can always pursue an outside program through CIEE or just save money and travel on my own. The pros of not going abroad during my junior year means that I get to hangout on campus and continue to pursue the leadership positions I am in and go through the thesis writing process early. Staying all of junior year also means that I will be living in a house off campus which is going to be cool and saving me a lot of money. All of this is up in the air though with things changing everyday because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There is literally so much happening. We are going through this one day at a time and that’s all we can do at this point. My heart goes out to my friends who are abroad who are stuck in Morocco where 6 students made it out before the borders closed and the other 13 of them and their professor remain indefinitely. I miss all my friends who are abroad right now and I am hoping they are able to return to the US soon.
Stay safe and stay informed. Use your privilege to help others in need.
Sarah