It was around 7 at night in my cold living room when I sat down to speak with my next guest. Grant Karsten tapped into the zoom call and again it was good to see a familiar face. His black hair was slightly longer than when I last saw him, but he wore the same glasses and playful smile that I remembered. Just like many other freshmen, Grant a business scholar, had his year stopped abruptly. He believed the COVID-19 situation to be more like rumors and was shocked when he learned that Concordia would be going completely digital. “Once that email came in, it kind of hit me that this was more serious than I expected.”
When he learned the news that Concordia would be going completely online, he was 4 plus hours away at his home in Decatur, Illinois. “I took home all of my school things,” He explained to me. “But I only had taken home 3 bags of my belongings, because at the time I thought we’d return.” Of course, that part was not news to me, as most people would not have had all their things moved out by then. “As of right now I still have most of my clothes, shoes, and other personal stuff sitting in my dorm room.” When I had interviewed him about this subject the date was April 13, 2020. Grant has not had possession of his own things for almost a month now. From looking at his face, against the brown backdrop of the wall he did not seem to be affected by it. He was obviously annoyed that he didn’t have his “good clothes” as he put it, but he understood there were bigger things to tackle. There were a few reasons factoring into why he could not go back and retrieve his things but obviously his family was a leading factor. Everyone has a different family dynamic in this situation, some heads of families are lenient and think it isn’t as serious, while other families take extra precaution and believe that complete isolation is key. His family has taken a more serious look at this pandemic, and as a result he has not been able to go and collect his belongings. His mom is a nurse at an assisted living facility, so the amount of urgency that she feels falls onto her family as well. “She is working with people who are at high risk of dying from this virus,” He stated from behind the computer screen. “If one of us were to get the virus from being irresponsible, and she took it to her work that wouldn’t be good.” It is very true, those people’s lives should not be taken lightly so he does practice safe social distancing, and he does follow his parents’ orders to stay inside. In a way, he holds a small responsibility to take care of those people as well and he is completely aware of that. It can be hard for him to not go and see the people he cares for the most; like his girlfriend of 4 years but health is the number one priority. With the family dynamic also comes another important part; schooling. Adjusting to classes being online for Grant hasn’t been much trouble. “The first week was a little weird, it felt like we were on summer break.” Luckily though, he has four of his classes on zoom so finding a built-in time to sit down and do his work has been easy. “I’ve also been able to work and make money,” He says with a smile on his face. “That’s something I definitely wouldn’t have done being on campus.” With all that being said, he still prefers face to face learning. Its more stimulating and interactive, looking at a computer constantly can become dulling for anyone. He misses being with people and being able to talk the friends he made over the year. He didn’t get the closure of finishing the year nor did he get the closure of moving his things out, its just another thing taken away from students.
Families nationwide are feeling the effects of students coming home early. Some students love being back while others feel trapped because of the circumstances going on. In Grants case, he hasn’t even been able to get his things back from his dorm. My roommate lives in Arizona, and he hasn’t been allowed to get his belongings either. Every story is different and certain people have had different experiences in different aspects of their own lives. Whether it be sports, family, or just the overall educational experience, college students have been affected. While lives may not be on the line, stories like these should be heard to show that we don’t stand alone in this experience. Out in the world somewhere there is someone going through something similar. I think it would be a crime to not have stories like these shared, let me know if you agree.
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