Quarantine Chronicles Pt I: Brooks Romoser ’21

Week One

I think it’s safe to say, I did not expect the unexpected. On January 28, all PSU students got an email regarding a respiratory disease referred to as the coronavirus or COVID-19. The email explained that there were only five cases diagnosed in the United States. So, just like most student, I brushed this “PSU Health Alert” email off as nothing to worry about. I continued to complain about classes, as I normally do. I would pray on a snow day if I saw a single snowflake in the weeks forecast. I would even make sure to send an email to our Vice President, trying to negotiate a snow day for us students.

He only replied because that day was my birthday. As of recently I have been having thoughts on emailing the Vice President, begging to have classes on-campus again. I wish it was that simple. When I got the coronavirus update email before spring break, which asked students to bring belongings home, I thought to myself “no way this is necessary”. I didn’t bring my stuff home. I hung out with my senior friends that week before spring break for possibly the last time ever, and I had no idea. I spent my days on spring break thinking that this will all just blow away in a month, and then we will be back in school. I did not expect this turn of events, at all.

Once Campus was officially closed, I was in complete shock. I don’t think I understood the seriousness of the virus, and how it will affect society. I don’t think I understood it completely, until I had to wipe with a paper towel roll that I cut into two pieces. That day, I realized that this virus is not a joke anymore, I just wiped with a paper towel roll. Yes, it’s true, I have reached my lowest points during this pandemic. I haven’t hugged my grandmother in weeks, and the only time I talk to someone is when I am talking to my black lab, Coco. My mother has been yelling at me while I entertain myself playing video games, telling me to go to bed, “It’s 2:00 in the morning!” I feel like I am in middle school all over again.

Don’t get me wrong, this crisis hasn’t been all that bad. Before, in Plymouth, I would wake up twenty minutes before class. Now, I wake up at the time of the class, with my laptop in my right hand and some chicken and waffles in my left. Also, I have upgraded my chef skills significantly. I went from making cereal in the morning, to making frozen waffles. To add to this, I haven’t boughten a single grocery! While in college, I would check my refrigerator occasionally, wondering why food that wasn’t there before isn’t there this time around. Now that I am back at home, this food is magically appearing in the refrigerator again.            

The online classes have been a learning process to say the least. While I have taken online classes in the past, I never in my right mind thought about taking all five of my classes online. If you ask me, I believe it has resulted in my classes being more difficult, and stressful; However, this is expected with any significant change, and I have slowly adapted. I have made up a nice work area in my living room, where I find that I spend most of my day. I occasionally look out the window, reminiscing on what life might’ve been like if a bat wasn’t cut in half. For now, I am going to remain quarantined at my home in Maryland, six feet away from everyone except my dog.