Category Archives: Quarantine

I remember last year around this time, I joined the Williams Class of 2023 Groupme. I had never heard of Groupme before, but it seemed like all college students used it. There were maybe 300 or so people in the group, the number constantly ebbing and flowing with Amherst converts and sellouts. A core group of a dozen or so people routinely talked amongst themselves, with their daily chitter-chatter broken up periodically by someone asking a general question and an upperclassman answering. I think I spoke up maybe twice in total during the three months prior to seeing everyone on campus, and that was two more than the average Groupme-er.

It’s interesting to note a similar, but more extreme, pattern emerging in the 2024 chat (which I snuck into for curiosity). The difference in the volume of texts / person is significantly more lopsided. This might be unique to Williams because there’s one dude who’s made it his mission to ask how everyone’s day been every single day, but I only recognize four or five regular participants (read: repliers of said dude’s questions). But less people might be talking because they’re unsure of when they’ll see everyone else on campus? They might not feel as committed to Williams / this particular year ‘s freshman if they defer. Alternatively, if people can’t see each other face-to-face for a while, you can’t rely on “oh, people will forget about the dumb things I texted once we’re on campus” anymore which might make people hesitant to put themselves out there. But on the other hand, I feel like with quarantine boredom (especially for high school seniors), wouldn’t they have nothing else to do than text each other? Who knows, these are only hypotheses from an old soon-to-be-sophomore.

Okay, hear me out. Abu and I were studying there at night. There was another person as well, but he left after midnight. We decided it was a smart idea to turn off the main overhead light, and turned on the desk lamps instead. I guess it’s kinda conducive to productivity?

But after a while, we heard sounds outside. Abu said, it was “like someone was tiptoeing above [on the roof] and started sprinting.” Uh oh. Maybe it was the wind, but it wasn’t too windy outside, so…

Anyways, moral of the story is, don’t go to Sawyer alone if you want to study with the peace of mind that there isn’t a ghost prancing around above you.

We went up Stone Hill today! A little late in the afternoon, just like before, so it was a little chilly. But boy oh boy, getting up to the top, turning around and taking in the view — so worth it. Not to mention, the cows were there again! I’m pretty sure there’s one mama cow (the brown one) and four kids because the brown one seems the most unfazed by us. And when she moves onto the next patch of grass, the others follow suit. I was crouching down in front of one of the kids with my palm extended forward, pretending to hold food (sorry I forgot real food), when it approached me. We locked eyes for a good second or two, and seeing that I passed the “not a predator” check, it decided to sniff my hand. And lick it too! I think the taste of my skin surprised it, and so it jumped back, causing me to jump back, causing it to run away. Albeit brief, we had a connection, and I can’t wait to go back next time in hopes of rekindling it 💜

The Davis Center made care packages for students remaining on campus! Honestly the sweetest thing anyone’s done. Carmen Whalen, the director of DC, needed people to help open doors into dorms, so I volunteered for Sage. She brought a box full of fifteen bags, filled with goodies like water bottles, drawing books, rubik’s cubes, puzzles, and hand-made masks! It was so so nice of them and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. Knowing that people care about us, makes staying on campus so much better.

From someone in the Class of 2023 Facebook group:

This week, I received a number of strongly worded texts from the wife of a Williams professor who I’d gotten to know this year. She made it clear that she wants students to return to campus next year, but expressed concern regarding the behavior of those still on campus.

Public disregard for social distancing guidelines by those still on campus is lowering the chances that the student body will be allowed to return in 2020. Please spread the word and consider being more subtle!

These were some of her words:

“This weekend and last there have been very loud public beer pong parties at Horn Hall and Hoxey Street by the students still on campus.

These parties are not unnoticed and they are breeding distrust and ill will towards students in the community… Faculty (have) expressed similar concerns.

I’m not sure the students partying recognize they might be tanking any chance of you guys coming back in the fall.

It’s not the partying I am upset about… it’s the blatant and public hubris of flaunting guidelines that sends a message to the community that Williams students care more about fleeting self indulgence than the health and viability of the campus and community.

I personally sent a detailed message to campus leaders advocating that students return but these parties are undermining my recommendation and I might retract it if that continues…

If they continue, public, including faculty and staff opinion, will turn strongly against you guys coming back.”

If you’re still on campus or know others who are, please encourage more private/subtle ways of coming together! Being on an abandoned campus is HARD, but the administration is factoring the behavior of those remaining into their decision making process.

People in the “those who remain” groupme seem to generally agree that we shouldn’t be partying, but it’s unclear whether these “parties” were just off-campus students lounging in their front lawns, or a congregation of people from all over. Either way, it doesn’t send a positive signal to the administration who are considering if students can behave with social distancing next fall on campus.

Another beautiful sunny day, another day spent holed up inside to study. That’s the Williams way I guess.

On the bright side, we had virtual Coffee Hours with ISA (International Students Association)! Only like 10 people showed up — and half of them were just internationals on campus — but it was fun nonetheless. Chaotic energies all around because of time zones; someone was chopping cucumbers for breakfast? Dinner?  and someone else had just rolled out of bed. Luckily, everyone’s safe and doing well, though there was the obvious gloomy atmosphere that is the uncertainty of what fall semester will look like. And on top of that, as internationals, there’s the added stress of not knowing if you can travel back to the US for fall / travel back to your home country for summer if you’re on campus! But besides that, a lot of people seemed to be interested in what life on campus is like right now (hint: not much is happening), perhaps reminiscing on the Good Times™️ I’m definitely fortunate to be able to appreciate this beautiful campus right now, but I’m also slightly jealous of people who are back home with their families. You know what they say, the hay is tastier on the other side.

What do you do when it’s a perfectly sunny day but you can’t afford to procrastinate by hiking because you’ve got a ton of work this weekend? The answer, as I found out today, is go to the South Science Building! There’s nobody else studying there and you get gorgeous views of the purple valley (it actually turned purple at night) from the lavishly tall windows. Plus, there’s the added benefit of being (marginally) closer to Driscoll for food! It was kinda fun watching people skate by below and I really think the sun helped me boost my productivity today. Thanks sun 😎

A couple hours later and we’re still posted up here. We’ve migrated to a study room with a TV though, so we can bump/work late into the night. Two more weeks until finals! #thegrinddontstop

So yeah, 2020 has been a wild ride to say the least. Somehow an entire month has passed by since quarantine, and who knows how many more there will be! For the longest time, I wasn’t homesick at all. I didn’t go back home over winter break so it’s been almost a year without seeing my family. Sure I missed them and my friends and actual good food, but I never seemed to dwell on it and become saddened (don’t tell my mom this). I thought it was because I was too busy meeting new friends and learning, but I’ve just realized it was because I left one home for another. Luckily for me, I was accepted so quickly by the community that I never felt the need to reach out to familiarity — I was already at home.

But now, with almost all of my friends gone, I have been getting homesick. Especially when I think about how much longer it’ll be until I can next see my friends and family again. I’m constantly thinking about when we’ll be back together, when life will return to normal, when I’ll feel like I’m back home.

Ramadan with exams and essays is tough — when you factor in the added stressors of quarantine and COVID-19, even more so. It’s imperative that students observing it get enough food when they break their fast to tide them over for the entire day. So it shocked me to find out that my Muslim friend received this email a couple of day ago:

I wanted to let you know that your Ramadan meals are automatically deducted for both brunch and dinner, so there is no need for you to swipe your card at Driscoll. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you. Gayle

He was swiping in to get more food to save for later, because the amount that they delivered to him wasn’t enough. Which I think is perfectly reasonable! He has to eat an entire days worth of food, and they only give in half. Sure, they also drop off perishables, but who really needs 4 packs of plain tortilla? Despite the slightly passive aggressive email, he has continued to swipe in for extra food and so far there hasn’t been any issues. Let’s hope it stays that way.

We made it! Our blog was featured in the Williams Record today. And the one post they chose to highlight out of 50+ was the one where I wrote nothing more than “:[“. Oops! But like I told Joey (the dude who reached out to me), I’m trying to keep this thing as authentic as possible. Nothing happened that day, so that’s exactly what I wrote. The article also made me aware of other people’s projects, which was super cool. Kristen has one with a style I really dig, and others are submitting memes and pictures and more. I’m kinda excited to look back 50 years from now, browsing through everyone’s experiences, reminiscing on the shitty situation we were all put in. I wonder how advanced memes will be then?