Our third post in the “Tell Your Story” project comes from Jaclyn Fraise.
Being quarantined at home with your family can be challenging because college students are so used to living independently, cooking and cleaning on their time and leaving at their leisure. I am going to go through a week’s worth of experiences still being a college student at home. I will identify what my schedule is like, what my struggles are, and what I enjoy about being home.
Monday: Mondays were a semi busy day at school, I had a morning class, and classes spread out throughout the day. Monday’s are now spent in bed, trying to find places to focus throughout the week, and impatiently waiting for my professors to post their weekly modules. I would ideally like to get my homework assignments done at the beginning of the week, so I have the rest of the week to relax. My parents are trying to leave me alone while I work, but sometimes going stir crazy in the middle of the day in your room can cause you to try and find a different study space. Going from a student who was taking 19 credits at school and actively involved in clubs, to not being able to leave the house is quite the change. I can hardly focus on anything for too long because not only am I stuck at home, my parents are working from home, and my little brother cannot go to school either. We go for long walks most days, do puzzles, read books, and watch all of the movies we can.
Tuesday: Tuesdays are usually very slow for me. My professors release assignments on Mondays or Wednesdays so I usually finish the Monday homework on Monday. I find it hard to keep a routine on this day, especially because I do not have anything specifically planned. I sleep in, read, visit with my parents when they are not on conference calls. I often find myself binging YouTube. Today I did mostly that, took my dogs for a walk and read for a while.
Wednesday: Wednesdays are a busy day for me. My friend and I like to do our homework over Facetime on this day. My professor just dropped lab instructions and a homework assignment, so I spent most of the day crouched over a desk doing Excel spreadsheets. I seemed to run into a lot of issues with excel today, and I found it frustrating that usually I would be able to ask my professor during my lab and the problem would be easily fixed. I spent the rest of the later afternoon waiting for an email back and looking up YouTube videos on how to get around my problem.
Thursday: I got an email today saying that around 40% of internships were postponed or cancelled in my major. This was hard to hear because I spent most of my first semester reaching out to any connection I could find to apply to internships, and I feel like all of that is now gone for me. My next option is to wait for retail stores to open up because I am an Apparel Merchandising major and take whatever job I can get. One of my friends called me upset that hers was taken away from her, and that was hard to hear. Having an internship is a requirement to graduate in my major, and I feel awful for all of the juniors who are having that taken away from them.
Friday: Today was a slow day with trying to figure out how to occupy my time. I finished all of my homework that I could, so now I am trying to figure out how to stay ahead. I need to learn how to spread out my homework throughout the week. My family is going stir-crazy, so we decided to take a drive around and listen to music. That helped a little, but people are getting agitated in my house. Only so much time together is wanted, and my parents want to stop working from home. They are constantly on conference calls and emailing people trying to communicate with their coworkers. My little brother is working on a car and took apart the engine. Since he is in high school, they have no coursework so far. My sister is officially out of quarantine and can come home. Now our family has to be even more careful who we are around because she works at a hospital. The weekend will hopefully be spent outside as much as we can, because we all are tired of staring at computer screens. Friday:Today was a slow day with trying to figure out how to occupy my time. I finished all of my homework that I could, so now I am trying to figure out how to stay ahead. I need to learn how to spread out my homework throughout the week. My family is going stir-crazy,so we decided to take a drive around and listen to music. That helped a little, but people are getting agitated in my house. Only so much time together is wanted, and my parents want to stop working from home. They are constantly on conference calls and emailing people trying to communicate with their coworkers. My little brother is working on a car and took apart the engine. Since he is in high school, they have no coursework so far. My sister is officially out of quarantine and can come home. Nowour family has to be even more careful who we are around because she works at a hospital. The weekend will hopefully be spent outside as much as we can, because we all are tired of staring at computer screens
Cardinal Tales 