College Interrupted

It’s hard trying to comprehend how one epidemic can easily shift the lives of so many people, including myself. I’m a college student who dorms in Rutgers Newark, so when the coronavirus hit New Jersey, it impacted me quickly. I was in Mexico on spring break with some friends, which was a terrible time to travel because the virus in the United States had become a big issue. If I wanted to re-enter the U.S., I’d have to return before the end of spring break. My friends and I quickly changed our flights to an earlier time and luckily we were allowed back in the country, but because of new quarantine laws that required everyone to be in their homes by 7 p.m., I was not allowed back in my dorm, despite having all of my necessities there. I was afraid because I did not know how I’d continue my college classes. After a couple of weeks of isolation, I received an email that all college students had to move out of their dorms before April 10. I started to freak out a bit because my parents don’t own a car and due to the quarantine regulations, my family members couldn’t help. I emailed housing about my circumstances, but they told me that the Governor had asked Rutgers University to start preparing our residence halls for use by medical personnel and potentially community care facilities. If I wasn’t able to come in person or through a proxy soon, the University may have to pack my items and store them in preparation for the State's needs. 

My friend Christopher Rodrigues (20) volunteered to help me move out of my dorm. The dorm is being prepared to house Covid19 patients as an overflow center for a hospital next door.

Christopher Rodrigues (20) helping me move out of my dorm room. We were the last ones to move, so there was nobody on the streets. 

I reached out to my friends to vent about my circumstances. Surprisingly, they went out of their way and came to help me move out of my dorm. It was a chance for us to see each other, after weeks of strict family interactions. When we finally packed up all of my things, I started to get sad because my life was going to change a lot back home. I wouldn’t have the free space that I usually have. Studying sessions would no longer take place in the Dana Library on campus but in my bedroom. Since everything moved online, students wouldn’t have easy access to health resources. And what surprised me the most was how our social lives would drastically change since we’d now be spending months without personally seeing our friends or professors. It’s still quite a shock to me how our college experience for the rest of the semester will be fulfilled on our computer screens. 

This is how my room looked after officially moving out of Talbott Apartments.

This is my living room space in my Apartment in Talbott. It was spacious and I would use this space to have friends over or work on homework. 

I'm now living back home which is still hard to adjust to. My room currently looks like a storage room after moving out of my college dorm. I'm living in a confined apartment space with my family members with absolutely nothing to do but interact with each other. In a sense, this quarantine has been beneficial because I've been improving my relationship with my little sister. We don't really have much of a choice since her bedroom is right next to mine. Her name is Wendy Mendoza and she's still a high school student. What we've now been doing to kill some time is playing piano together which has been enjoyable. We're both learning this instrument during this hard time and hopefully, by the end of quarantine, we can easily play a few pieces together.

The green space in front of Talbott Residence. This space would usually be filled with college students relaxing outside during a nice day, but on this day there’s no one.